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Family Mourns Dog Killed By Deputy

Valerie Kalfrin/Tribune photo

William Purcell of Riverview and his 11-year-old daughter, Cortney, hold a family photo of Shelby, their 3-year-old bulldog.

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By Valerie Kalfrin and Thomas W. Krause, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 18, 2007

Updated: 09/19/2007 07:34 pm

Dog Attack Raises Questions About Safety At School Bus Stops

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RIVERVIEW - To the Purcells, Shelby wasn't a dog but their baby, who squeezed onto the couch to watch television and bounced on their trampoline.

To Renea Bell, the dog seemed vicious, leaving two punctures in the calf of her 9-year-old niece.

Wednesday, the Purcells questioned why a Hillsborough County sheriff's deputy had shot and killed the animal instead of calling animal control officers. Meanwhile, Bell expressed relief that her niece was not seriously hurt.

The families spoke for the first time Wednesday after Doria Purcell phoned Bell to ask about the injuries to Bell's niece, Shawntae Smith.

"She was very apologetic. … I really did feel sympathetic. … But this situation here could have been worse than what it is," Bell said.

The Purcells retained an attorney Wednesday. They described the dog as a 3-year-old female American bulldog; the sheriff's office called it a "pit bull type animal."

The dog escaped from the Purcells' home at 11385 Cocoa Beach Drive through an open sliding-glass door, the sheriff's office said. Sheriff's spokesman J.D. Callaway said Deputy Clifford Spangler shot the dog as it charged at him and that Spangler and several teenage girls nearby were in danger.

Doria Purcell, 31, could not believe that. "That's not possible," the mother of six children said Wednesday. "There are children at my house every single day. She's not a vicious dog."

Purcell and her husband, William, were at work Tuesday when their 11-year-old daughter, Cortney, called them to say the dog was dead.

"I got off the bus, and these three cops told me, 'I'm sorry to tell you your dog has been shot,'" said Cortney, who stayed home with most of her siblings Wednesday to mourn the loss. "She was the baby of the family."

"We bottle-fed that dog," William Purcell said.

Shawntae said she and her 8-year-old brother had been walking home to Cocoa Beach Drive from nearby Terrell Sessums Elementary about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday when they "took a shortcut" over a small hill.

The Purcells' property is behind that hill. As the children came down the hill, Shawntae said, the dog ran at them and "just bit me on the leg."

After Shawntae relayed where the dog had appeared, Bell knocked on the Purcells' door, she said. No one answered, but "a big white dog" ran its head up against a window in response, Bell said. She called the sheriff's office.

Spangler arrived shortly before 3 p.m. and interviewed Shawntae and Bell, the sheriff's office said. Bell took the child to a local hospital. The girl did not need any vaccinations because the dog's shots were current, Bell said.

About 3:30 p.m., Spangler heard several girls screaming in the neighborhood. They had gotten off a school bus and were charged by the same dog, which ran off, Callaway said.

Minutes later, the dog reappeared and charged Spangler, Callaway said. He fired twice, killing the animal. Six witnesses told deputies that the dog was showing its teeth and that Spangler had no choice but to shoot, Callaway said.

Spangler remains on duty, Callaway said. Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office policy allows deputies to use deadly force against a dog if they discern an imminent danger to themselves or others, he said.

Doria Purcell said the dog might have been trying to play with the children. The dog often jumped on the trampoline with her children's friends, she said. "She'll get up on the trampoline and grab the backs of their pant legs," she said.

The dog's blood remained spattered on the sidewalk near the family's house Wednesday, a reminder of the loss.

"She was part of my family, and she was killed for no reason," Doria Purcell said. "I feel like one of my kids has been taken from me."

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

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