HONOLULU (AP) — Authorities are investigating after a security officer shot and killed a family’s pet dog at Honolulu International Airport.
“I was just in shock.He was such a sweetheart,” said Leisha Ramos of her 2-year-old pit bull. “He never attacked anybody.”
Ramos had flown in from the Big Island on Tuesday night. She said her boyfriend parked his car in a vehicle holding area near the Hawaiian Airlines terminal to help gather her luggage and had chained Kaiele to a nearby tree.
Ramos said a security officer approached them and told them they had to leave and that her boyfriend began arguing with the unidentified Securitas employee.
She said at some point the dog’s chain broke loose but that Kaiele was not acting aggressively. Ramos, who had been holding her 5-month-old baby, tried unsuccessfully to grab the dog’s collar.
The officer shot the dog in the head.
The Department of Public Safety confirmed Wednesday that an investigation is underway but did not release further details.
“It would be premature to release findings until the investigation is complete,” the department said in a statement.
Securitas Security Services USA officials did not respond to questions about the incident.