Colorado Springs police investigate shooting of dog as neighbors at odds
Mackenzie Stafford
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) confirms it is investigating an incident where a dog was shot, and KRDO13 has learned the incident has left neighbors at odds. The department says it got the call just after noon on Friday.
Police say the dog is in stable condition.
On Monday, KRDO13 spoke with the owner of the dog and the man who fired the gun.
The owner of the dog, Vincent Harlow, tells KRDO13 he came home on Friday to Animal Law Enforcement at his door. He says they told him there was an altercation between dogs. Harlow says he got through to the backyard to find his dog, Wednesday, lying in her dogbed in a pool of blood.
He says they rushed her to the animal hospital in disbelief.
“We just laid down all the seats in my truck flat and slid her in like it was a mini ambulance sort of thing, to give her as much comfort, which was not much use crying every time we hit anything. Halfway to the ER, she got real quiet. And that’s when I started to get really nervous because she wasn’t making any noise. And by the time we got there, she wasn’t even like, she didn’t look like she was like a dog anymore. She just looked like she was going to be like, be gone,” said Vincent Harlow.
Harlow says Wednesday already had emergency surgery and needs another. He says the veterinarian told them the bullet fractured her humerus and hit her other leg, needing stitches.
The neighbor who discharged a firearm, Wayne Karbowski, says he didn’t want to fire his gun, but felt like he had to. He says his young son, Atticus, had opened the back door and called to him.
“And I looked outside, and the neighbor’s dog was out there, and it was like one of these neighborhood super pinnacle moments where everything kind of slowed down. The dog jumped at him, and Oreo (Karbowski’s dog) jumped at the dog. And then I pulled Atticus back in the house. I looked outside, and Oreo was being attacked by two of his Rottweilers outside,” recounted Karbowski.
Karbowski says he pulled his son inside and went to retrieve his gun.
“I didn’t want to shoot the dog in front of my kid and kill the dog. I couldn’t kill the dog anyway because I didn’t want to hit my dog. So I went to shoot at the ground beside the dog because the other dog was circling around behind me, and I guess it ricocheted back up into its shoulder, and he yelped. All the attacking stopped,” stated Karbowski.
Wednesday’s owner disputes this claim. Harlow tells KRDO13 the veterinarian determined the gunshot went through the right shoulder and exited at the elbow.
An excerpt of the veterinarian report provided by Harlow.
Karbowski says his dog, Oreo, was bitten in the fight.
“I had to take him to the vet. He got some meds. He got heavily medicated that night. Yeah, but I probably didn’t spend anywhere near what they probably had to. Yeah, that’s unfortunate,” said Wayne Karbowski.
However, Wednesday’s owner, Harlow, says his dog is not aggressive and wouldn’t have tried to attack Karbowski or his dog.
“I couldn’t believe it if I didn’t see it. I just I’m adamant that I know this, my animal would have never done anything like that,” said Harlow.
He says his three girls will sleep with the dog, paint her nails, and even put her hair in ponytails without a problem. Harlow got emotional sharing what it was like to tell his children that their dog had been shot.
“They just started breaking down, screaming, crying, saying no, no, no, no, no. Why would they do something like that? Why would they do that? She’s such a sweet dog. And, it was just really heartbreaking just to hear your children, I had never heard my kids cry like that, ever,” recounted Harlow.
Both neighbors say the fence came down due to the other.
Animal Law Enforcement confirmed to KRDO13 that it is actively investigating the incident and is working in coordination with the Colorado Springs Police Department. They say that because this remains an open investigation, we’re not able to confirm specific details related to the case at this time.
Harlow’s family is raising money to afford an additional surgery for their dog, Wednesday, on this verified GoFundMe.