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When Rita Shoemaker and her husband Jimmy left their apartment for a doctor's appointment Tuesday, they had no idea what they would find when they returned home.
The Shoemakers arrived home to find a pit bull mix dog in their home and their two American Kennel Club-registered Shih-Tzu dogs mauled. One Shih-Tzu, a 2-year-old female named Tabby, was dead in the kitchen. The other, a 4-year-old male named Peppy, was badly injured and laying in the bathroom.
Jimmy got the 1-year-old pit bull mix named Stoogie out of the house, and then he and Rita took Peppy to the nearest veterinarian at Lake City Animal Clinic, 819 W. Winona Avenue, Warsaw. Peppy died Wednesday morning at the animal clinic.
"I left the sliding glass door cracked open about an inch and latched the screen door to give the dogs fresh air because the apartment gets a little stuffy," said Rita. "When we got home, the screen door was pushed through and there was a pit bull in my house."
When the Shoemakers returned home from the veterinarian around 7 p.m. Tuesday, they called the Warsaw Police Department to report the incident.
According to Steve Rockey of the Warsaw Police Department, the owner of the pit bull mix, Richard Gierke, was walking his dog Tuesday when the dog got off its leash just outside his house.
Gierke told the police he tried to chase Stoogie but lost track of him.
Rockey said no criminal charges would be filed because no laws were broken. Gierke had his dog on a leash and the dog had all its shots.
"It was an accident," said Rockey.
"I can only imagine what (the Shoemakers) had to see (when they got home)," Gierke said when called today.
Although Gierke faces no criminal charges, he is responsible for the damages caused by Stoogie.
"Civilly, he is liable for any damages created by the dog," said Rockey, "such as vet bills and the value of the dogs (that were killed)."
"The owner of the dog was very apologetic," Rita said.
"But I lost my babies, they were babies to me. What if that had been an infant?"
