Loudon — A woman wants answers after she says a Loudon County Sheriff's deputy shot and killed her dog while serving a warrant at the house next door.
"There I am with him outside, that's how big he was," the dog's owner Alicia Russell said, showing pictures of her dog Zeus.
Pictures and memories are all she has left of him.
"The last couple of days have been really, really hard," Russell said.
The sheriff's office released dash cam video that shows a Loudon County deputy shoot and kill the pitbull mix as he served a warrant near the Russell's home Sunday afternoon.
"I just don't understand how deputies can come onto your property, unannounced, and shoot and kill your dog," Russell said.
The deputy's report says the dog initially ran toward one of the two deputies and growled. Then, he turned and lunged at the other.
In the dash cam video, you can see the dog moving toward the deputy--the deputy says that's when the dog's collar broke.
The report says the deputy thought he was in immediate danger and fired his weapon twice.
In the video, you can see the dog running away. The dog eventually died.
Russell said she heard three shots from inside her house, and believes the deputy shot the collar off the dog, before firing two more rounds.
"Why three shots though? I mean you could've just shot him once, just enough for us to save his life," Russell said.
Chief Deputy Jimmy Davis says the deputy only fired twice, and from what he can see, the deputy followed training protocol.
"They were on a felony warrant service so their senses were kind of keyed up to make sure everything goes right," Davis said. "Then you get startled one, by an animal, and then it comes at you ... I don't even know if he had time to realize it. It was on him in a matter of seconds."
Davis said deputies were serving the warrant at Russell's neighbor's house, but they share a common driveway.
"We want to protect everybody's Fourth Amendment right, which is their right to privacy, which includes their property," Davis said.
Russell said she's talked to a couple of lawyers, but they've told her the case would be hard to argue in court.
She's staying hopeful and continuing to review her options.