Sparta pays $6,000 settlement to owner of dog shot by police chief

After the town's police chief took her dog to a shooting range to kill it more than a year ago, Elizabeth Womack settled with the city of Sparta for $6,000, according to a press release from the woman's attorney.

Womack's dog "Chase," a mixed-breed pit bull, had gotten loose in November 2015 and was captured by the police chief who then shot the dog shortly thereafter, the release said.

According to the release, Missouri law requires the dog be held for five days before any action is taken.

Then-Police Chief Andrew Spencer resigned soon after shooting the dog, and so did Sparta's two other officers, leaving the small town with no police officers for several months.

A police report from last year written by Spencer describes how he used a "catcher pole" to capture the loose pit bull that was barking at people. Spencer put the dog into a crate, the report said, but he couldn't find an animal shelter nearby that would take the dog or a veterinarian to put the dog down.

While trying to find something to do with the dog, Spencer was dispatched to a rollover crash at Sparta High School.

"Due to the higher priority call and the imminent destruction of the dog," Spencer writes in the report, "I decided it was best to destroy the dog and respond to the accident."

The report said Spencer then took the dog to the Sparta Police Department's firing range, where he shot it once in the head before responding to the rollover crash.

He later returned and buried the dog, the report said.

The report said about a week after he shot the dog, Spencer returned to the burial site of the dog and exhumed the carcass, took photos and left it "pending owner arrival to claim the carcass."

According to the press release, Chase was a rescue dog who was gentle and never aggressive.

"This settlement doesn’t bring Chase back, but it goes a long way toward obtaining justice for Chase. What Chief Spencer did to Chase was illegal and absolutely wrong," the release said.

The settlement was paid through a risk management fund representing Sparta, the release said.