LIVONIA, MI (WXYZ/CNN) – After their dog was shot and killed by a utility worker, a Michigan family is demanding answers.
The Eiben family says their 4-year-old dog Katie was in their front yard when a utility worker shot her from the neighbor’s yard with his own gun.
"No sooner I got out to the front, I heard a pop. The next thing I know, my dog’s laying down on the ground dead, and I noticed a guy coming from my neighbor’s yard into our yard," Douglass Eiben said.
Douglass Eiben and his brother Michael are in shock after Katie died in their arms.
"At first, I heard my dog barking and stuff, and then I didn't hear anything," Michael Eiben said.
The men say they asked the worker for his credentials, and he said he was trying to cut through the yard to read their meter.
“‘Why are you cutting through the yard here?’ I said. ‘You just killed my dog.’ He says, ‘Well, she lunged at me.’ I said, ‘No, the dog doesn't lunge at anyone,’" Douglass Eiben said.
The family says they have an invisible fence, and Katie would not have been able to cross it.
It is unclear if the utility worker, who was performing survey work for AT&T, was allowed to carry a weapon while on the job.
Jim Moskal of Metro Engineering Solutions is in charge of the investigation.
"We take this seriously. We've never had this issue within our company. It is something that we discuss, and it’s important that we get to the bottom of it,” Moskal said.
The worker has been placed on leave. The company will not say if he is still receiving pay.
"I want matters resolved. I want this person to be terminated from his employment,” Douglass Eiben said.
Copyright 2017 WXYZ, Douglass Eiben via CNN. All rights reserved.
