Former Springdale police chief shoots dog belonging to Allegheny Valley Regional police chief

A former Alle-Kiski Valley police chief shot and killed a dog belonging to a current Valley police chief after the 1-year-old Dutch German shepherd broke free from an electric containment fence Friday morning in Fawn, according to the dog’s owner.

“It’s a sad incident,” said Allegheny Valley Regional Police Chief Mike Naviglia, whose dog Tammy died in the shooting.

Naviglia, who was on duty when the shooting happened about 10:45 a.m., said he saw an emergency alert go out and suspected that it involved his dog based on the address given.

Naviglia said he headed home and talked briefly with the man who he said shot his dog, former Springdale police Chief Julio Medeiros, who also lives in Fawn and frequently walks by Naviglia’s house.

Medeiros didn’t respond to requests for comment.

“The 1-year-old puppy was not aggressive but liked to bark when strangers passed by,” said Naviglia, a longtime trainer of police dogs in the region.

Naviglia’s dog was named after U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a former Army lieutenant colonel who survived when the Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was shot down in Iraq in 2004.

Tammy, which was not a police dog but a family dog, barked at Medeiros and his wife as they were walking by Naviglia’s house and then broke free of its electric containment fence and left the yard, according to Naviglia.

“Mr. Medeiros and his wife felt threatened and shot the dog,” Naviglia said. “No one was bit or injured.”

Naviglia said the dog was shot in the neck, and the bullet exited its head.

The dog had never attacked anyone before and was not known to be aggressive, Naviglia said. It once broke free of the electric fence to bark at another dog and then turned around and returned to her yard, he said.

State police in Kittanning responded to the incident. They had not released additional details as of Friday afternoon.

Naviglia said he is not pressing charges.

“There’s nothing to file. I’m not seeking anything from anybody,” he said.