‘He’s a victim in shock’: Man’s emotional support dog shot, killed in North Phoenix apartment

PHOENIX — An Arizona man’s emotional support dog was shot and killed while he was at work, family told 12News.

RELATED: Man arrested after allegedly entering apartment unlawfully and shooting the resident’s dog

“She was just young and full of energy, barely a year old. So tragic. She hadn’t even hit her prime yet,” Dan Reis said.

Reis spoke to 12News on behalf of his son, Shaun, who he said is too traumatized to talk about what he came home to find just after midnight on April 14.

“Shaun was just traumatized,” Reis said. “The thing that bothers him the most is the smell of the blood… He can just visualize that horrible smell because there was blood all over the apartment.”

According to court records obtained by 12News, David Contreras, 33, allegedly broke into the third-floor apartment near 19th and Dunlap Avenues using a hidden spare key. He told police he got into an argument with “two dark figures” on the balcony and fired a gun at them several times.

Officers reportedly found no evidence that anyone else was in the apartment, apart from the dog, which was shot in the neck.

“Police took Shaun and Spirit to the vet, and they did a bunch of work, and they said that she would probably be in pain her whole life. She had been shot by her neck through her spinal cord. So, we finally had to, Shaun had to put her down while we were on the phone,” Reis said.

Contreras is reportedly known to the dog’s owner, but he didn’t have permission to enter the apartment.

Reis said his son doesn’t want to return to this apartment, and he can’t.

According to a notice of immediate termination shared with 12News by the family, the apartment complex claimed Shaun breached his lease agreement by allowing Contreras to discharge a weapon on the premises. 

Reis told 12News he was there when his son received the notice.

“Here it is under the door, here’s a bunch of papers with a notice to appear before a judge and an accusation that he’s the one who created all of this problem instead of him being the victim,” Reis said.

12News reached out to the attorney representing the apartment complex, but our call was not returned.

Reis said the past two weeks have been unbearable for his son, who lost his dog, his home, and his sense of security all at once.

“You have empty leashes, empty bowls, and empty dog food, and just the trauma of her not being there,” Reis said. “He’s a victim in shock, like PTSD, absolute shock.”

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