Foundation to Help Pay for Shot Dog’s Surgery

A local pet foundation will help a dog owner with surgery costs after her animal was shot by Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Deputies.

The Diana Baseheart Foundation told NewsChannel 3 it will pick up an estimated $5,000 in expenses for surgery on a border collie named Peyton. The dog was shot in the nose by deputies who went to a home to check on a parolee.

Peyton’s owner Julie Morgan has experienced unannounced visits from deputies before because a parolee lives in her home.

As she has before, Morgan asked the deputies if she could put her pets in the back yard before they came into the house, but was refused.

“I was saying wait a minute, wait a minute because I want to grab my dog. Then the guy just shot him in the hallway,” Morgan said.

Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover told a different version of events, saying the deputy felt threatened.

“The dog chased one deputy down the hallway and another deputy into the kitchen. He backed one of the deputies up against a corner and that is when he felt that the dog was going to bite him,” Hoover said.

The dog’s surgery on Thursday was successful, with a complete recovery expected.