Homewood man pushing for change after dog survives being shot by police

HOMEWOOD, Ala. (WBRC) – Brutus is a walking miracle according to his owner. From a distance, his slight hobble is the only sign something is off, but up close you can tell he is missing part of his right eye.

“They thought he’s a miracle,” said Ken Sobaski, Brutus’ owner. “He had a shot through is eye that bounced off his skull and exited his neck, a shot through his shoulder that excited through his chest and didn’t hit a thing.”

Homewood Police can be seen on surveillance video obtained by WBRC shooting Brutus after arriving at Ken Sobaski’s home in October. His home security system malfunctioned, mistakenly alerting police his house was being robbed.

“I was yelling to him to stop. Stand still. Brutus isn’t going to bite you,” Sobaski said. The dog owner said Brutus was shot three times.

However, this is not uncommon. Last month, Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies also shot a dog on private property.

The Department of Justice estimates police shoot around 10,000 dogs each year.

Brutus was one of the lucky ones. Perhaps more surprisingly, his owner is not mad at Homewood Police.

“I do not begrudge the Homewood Police Department for what happened,” Sobaski said. “I’m so glad that I now know that if I actually do have a burglary that the system works and that someone’s going to come here, but I also think there’s an opportunity to have something positive and something good come out of this that can be more lasting.”

Sobaski did not have to look far. The man who trained Brutus, Aaron McDonald, is a canine behaviorist with 25 years of experience.

He is already working with other local departments, like Mountain Brook Police.

“It’s a model that we would like to see replicated across the United States,” said McDonald with Three Dimensional Dog. “It’s a seminar that teaches them canine body language interpretation.”

The expert teaches officers how to understand the basics of dog psychology and recognize what is truly a treat.

He said it is “critical” other departments in Alabama prioritize this training to protect officers and dogs.

“We expect so much of our police officers and yet we don’t always provide them with the funding and the training that they need in order to respond appropriately to all the diverse situations that they could encounter,” McDonald said.

Brutus’ owner added he is already talking with the Greater Birmingham Humane Society and The Remy Project to better understand the problem at hand and what can be done.

WBRC has reached out to the Homewood Police Department to see what training they currently offer.

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