A lawsuit has been filed against authorities in Cherokee County alleging that a sheriff’s deputy shot a family’s dog while it was on its owner’s property and then conspired to cover up the shooting.
The lawsuit asks for a jury trial and financial damages against Sheriff Jerod Clyde, former deputy Alec Wolf and Cleghorn, Iowa Animal Control Officer Tim Peterson.
The petition is filed by attorneys for Austin Johnson who owned the dog named Zucko, and family members who were caring for the dog when it was shot.
The court filing alleges that Wolf went on to the family’s property on August 10th and shot Zucko, then conspired with Peterson and the Sheriff to conceal where the dog’s body was disposed of.
Court documents claim the sheriff told Wolf to shoot and kill Zucko if it was found outside of Cleghorn and not on private property.
The sheriff posted on Facebook that Deputy Wolf shot the dog August 10th after there were reports of a dog attacking 2 other dogs and killing one of them on August 9th.
Zucko’s body was found in a ditch three weeks later.
Deputy Wolf was fired by the sheriff after the family posted a Facebook video of the incident in September.
