Should Cop Who Killed Dog Lose His Job?

Last month, Easton police shot and killed a pitbull named Xavier.

Police say they were left with no choice when dealing with a dangerous animal.

Xavier's owner doesn't buy that argument, and has launched an on-line petition calling for the officer who shot the dog to be identified and fired.

Autumn Kunsman's change.org petition had gotten more than 4,000 signatures as of Friday morning.

"Where is my protect and serve?" she wrote. "You took my family and tore it apart. There is no bringing back my baby."

In an interview with WFMZ, police Chief Carl Scalzo defended the patrolman's actions "100 percent," saying officers responded to a frightened woman who "was basically being held, pinned down by an aggressive pitbull in her yard."

The TV station also spoke to two eyewitnesses, one of whom described the dog as "very, very vicious," and another who backed Kunsman's statement that the officer shot the dog as it was walking away.

The petition comes at a time when, as Time magazine reported last week, the pitbull's reputation is getting a makeover.

On the local level, Easton pitbull owners have defended their dogs, saying they only seem to get negative media attention.

This isn't the first time a pitbull has been shot by Easton police. Officers shot and killed one of the dogs last year following a drug raid.