A La Verkin couple has filed a complaint against city manager Keith Bet-tridge for the shooting of their family dog in a city park last week.
Frank and Gina Linhardt and a neighbor, Dawn Cosmos, filed complaints this week with the Washington County sheriff's office against Bettridge and his father in-law, Tom Blake.The black labrador, Buster, was fatally shot three times with a .22-caliber rifle on Dec. 9 in Bet-tridge's unfenced back yard, which borders the city park.
The Linhardts say Bettridge asked Blake to shoot the dog after he discovered it in his back yard at about 11 a.m. Frank Linhardt said the dog belonged to his brother's family visiting from Denmark.
Bettridge would say only, "There was an incident Friday involving an unlicensed, untagged dog running loose that was very aggressive."
Blake referred comment to Bet-tridge.
Linhardt said he is upset no one tried to scare Buster away with rocks or a warning shot prior to the shooting.