‘Justice for Steffie’ Owners seek answers after family dog is fatally shot by deputy

By Taylor Thompson

Click here for updates on this story

    HENDERSON COUNTY, North Carolina (WLOS) — One Henderson County family and several community members are rallying after they believe a dog named Steffie was wrongfully shot and killed by a deputy.

The Henderson County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release that shortly after 2 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 25, they received a 911 call over concern about a suspicious vehicle at a home in the East Flat Rock community. The release added that the caller stated the home was for sale and didn’t believe that anyone was currently living there.

But the homeowner, Stuart Pinkerton, disputes some of what the sheriff’s office says.

“The police were called, of course, because someone reported my wife’s car parked in our driveway, in the home that she lives in as a suspicious vehicle, at an unoccupied residence,” he told News 13 on Tuesday.

Pinkerton said all of their neighbors are aware that they’re still occupying the home while in the process of selling it.

In their release, the sheriff’s office goes on to say that when a deputy arrived at the home, they “encountered an aggressive Pit Bull Terrier that had escaped its containment.”

Pinkerton admitted that the gate must have been either open or partially open, but that when his wife Paula let the dogs outside she didn’t even know the cops were there.

“The canine charged the deputy who was put in the unfortunate position of dispatching the animal to protect himself,” the press release said.

Pinkerton said the deputy shot Steffie three times. He added that Steffie would have typically never even attempted to go out of the gate, but that she was distracted by strangers and flashing lights in the driveway.

“Discovers that the gate is open, of course she charges whoever’s out there, she’s doing what we like her to do, she’s defending the home,” he described.

While Pinkerton said he knew that Steffie should have been restrained, he said he’s also outraged at how the situation was handled.

“If the cops hadn’t been there in the first place, the gate being opened wouldn’t have been an issue,” he said.

Many community members are also rallying behind Pinkerton, including Tera and Amy McIntosh who founded Misfit Mountain.

Misfit Mountain is a nonprofit animal rescue that fostered Steffie before she found her forever home.

“She loved to play, she was good with the other dogs, she loved to give kisses, she was great with people,” Amy recalled.

Both Amy and Tera said they’re seeking justice for Steffie because the system failed her.

“What’s the first thing that law enforcement does, they run the plate,” Tera said. “If they had ran the plate they would have seen that that car belonged to Steffie’s owners.”

She added that she believed the sheriff’s office was not taking any accountability for the errors that were done within the system.

“The system failed her and there needs to be new steps taken to ensure that this doesn’t happen to animals in the future, especially pit bulls,” Tera said.

A volunteer for Misfit Mountain, Melissa Hartnagel, echoed other concerns and said she believed the sheriff’s office needs to publicly apologize.

“They don’t just enter into a property and shoot a dog that was reacting as dogs do,” she expressed.

For Pinkerton, he said that he would like to see the neighbor who made what he referred to as a “false 911 call” held accountable.

“The person that’s done this is still at large and the sheriff doesn’t seem to be interested in talking about that subject,” he said.

News 13 reached out to the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office for further comment on the incident and they declined an interview.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.