In September, San Luis Obispo police officers were responding to a report of a possible burglary on Santa Rosa Street when they say a dog came after them in a threatening manner.
One of the officers shot the animal, which later died.
The dog's owner, Nick Regalia, and a friend turned to Twitter Wednesday night for support.
THIS IS BUBS 🖤 Bubs was shot on his owner’s property by SLOPD Officer Josh Walsh. They will not allow my friend, the owner, to see the body cam footage. They have left him with thousands of $ of vet bills in attempt to save his dogs life PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION pic.twitter.com/ttZARx6oif
— Puppy Daddy (@hebrewhustla) November 14, 2019
The tweet asks that people sign a petition asking for the officer involved to lose his job. In less than 24 hours, they collected nearly all the signatures they had hoped for.
"I just want justice for Bubs, plain and simple and he deserves that,” Regalia said.
Regalia says he was left with thousands of dollars in veterinary bills, denied access to the officer's body camera footage, and most importantly, left without his 7-year-old dog.
Since the tweet was posted Wednesday night, it has more than 700 re-tweets.
Regalia says they’ve also collected 1,500 signatures on a petition, about a thousand shy of their goal.
He hopes the petition can bring justice for his dog, Bubbers, and raise awareness to prevent a similar situation from happening again.
"I just don't what someone to go through what we had to go through and what I've been feeling this last couple months because I've been to hell and back,” Regalia said.
He also says he hope the petition can be a tool to hold the officer who fired the gun accountable for killing his dog.
Shortly after the shooting, KSBY made a formal request for the officer’s body cam footage but was denied.
Officer Walsh has been placed on administrative reassignment while the case is still under an internal investigation by the San Luis Obispo Police Department.
