Police chief shot two Boston Terriers in front of the little kids who owned them. Now he’s suing their parents

An off-duty police chief shot two little Boston Terriers in front of a pair of young children whose dogs they were, leaving them traumatized — and now he is suing their parents for negligence, claiming he was the victim.

One of the compact pooches, Charlie, 1, was killed in the Oct. 6 incident, while the other, 3-year-old Dexter, was hospitalized with serious injuries and required expensive veterinary treatment, according to a GoFundMe appeal in support of the Michigan family they belonged to.

Calling it an “unprovoked attack,” Blissfield police chief Dale Greenleaf claimed he was set upon by the pets on the evening of Oct. 6 as he took a walk around the neighborhood and opened fire in self defense.

But Todd and Nicole Snyder, of Bedford Township, say their children have been left “traumatized” by the ordeal.

“We want to thank you all for the love and support during this heartbreaking, devastating, truly unbelievable tragedy we are living through,” the distraught mom wrote in a public Facebook post last month.

“Both of our dogs were shot in our cul de sac last night,” she wrote. “Our children as well as our nephews were present and to say it has been traumatic is a HUGE understatement.”

Greenleaf claims he was “in fear of his life and in fear great bodily injury” according to the lawsuit, a copy of which was obtained by The Independent.

The police chief said he kicked the animals off and “did everything in his power to safely remove the dogs” before he fired at them, according to the complaint.

Neighbors told local media that they heard gunshots and took cover indoors.

“My daughter, that’s 4, was on the front porch and she said, ‘Someone’s shooting fireworks, mommy,’” Patricia Hotaling told 13 Action News. “My instant response was ‘That’s not fireworks, get in the house.’”

Hotaling said that the Snyder’s children “stayed home from school the day after the incident and painted posters” about their pets.

“These two 15-pound dogs were not threatening anyone’s life,” Hotaling added.

Prosecutors in Monroe County told 13 Action News that they cannot charge Greenleaf due to insufficient evidence.

Greenleaf’s $25,000 lawsuit alleged that the dogs’ owners were negligent by because they left the garden gate open, causing the animals to escape.

He is in “continuous constant and extreme pain” from the injuries he sustained in the attack and has experienced “consistent violent and harmful threats to his home,” the complaint said.

The Independent has contacted Greenleaf’s attorney and the Snyder family for comment.

A friend of the family named Destelle Keller created the GoFundMe page to cover the cost of the veterinary bills for Dexter, the surviving dog.

“The emotional toll on this family is immense, and now they’re also facing unexpected and overwhelming veterinary expenses,” Keller said on the page. “This GoFundMe is to help cover Dexter’s medical care and give the family one less thing to worry about as they process this trauma and focus on supporting their children through unimaginable grief.”