BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — A Broken Arrow man's two small dogs were killed in his own home.
Police say the attackers, two bigger dogs, got in through the pet door.It happened last month and now the man and his family are struggling to get justice.
His family says he lives in a normally peaceful neighborhood, but the recent death of the dogs left a sense of tension in the air.
"This has been really torturous,” Tara Lee, the daughter of the man whose dogs were killed, said.
On December 1st, a Broken Arrow man came home to find his dogs clinging to life.
“Saw the neighbors two German Shepherds in his house after they had just killed his dogs in a bloody massacre,” Lee said.
Lee's father didn't want to go on camera, but she says he was devastated coming home to the scene.The man's two Boston Terriers, Katy and Lucy, nearly dead.
Police say a neighbor's German Shepherds got in through the doggy door and attacked the pair. Katy and Lucy died at the vet.
Lee says when her father got home, Broken Arrow police and animal control were there, but their hands were tied.
“They couldn’t write the proper tickets, take the dogs or set a court date because of the McGirt ruling,” she said.
Chris Walker with Broken Arrow Police Department told 2 News the McGirt ruling complicated the case because the owner of the German Shepherd's is Native American. Any criminal cases involving Native Americans typically fall under federal or tribal jurisdiction.
Walker sent a statement that reads: “Broken Arrow Police Department completed a report and an investigation into the dog attack, the information was forwarded to the Muscogee Nation district court for disposition.”
Lee and her dad weren’t aware of this ruling until this incident. She says it’s affecting both non-Native Americans and Native Americans alike.
“We are all at risk of something horrible like this happening and not getting any justice for it,” she said.
2 News tried to talk with the owner of the German Shepherds, but they refused to speak with us.
For Lee and her family, they are scared to go to her dad’s house because nothing has been done with the dogs and she has children.
“We just need the dogs removed,” Lee said.
2 News Oklahoma spoke with other neighbors off-camera who say they have had their own run-ins with these German Shepherds.
2 News reached out to the attorney general for the Muscogee Creek Nation for comment, and got this statement back:
"The Muscogee (Creek) Nation Attorney General’s Office is considering all legal avenues, both civil and criminal, to address this tragic situation and to provide for the ongoing safety and security of all Oklahomans. At present, we have initiated eviction proceedings against the owners of the dogs that entered their neighbors’ home and viciously attacked two family dogs that later died as a result their injuries."
The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to have a conference Friday to discuss taking on new cases, including whether to uphold or overturn its McGirt ruling.
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