Tulsa Family Says Meter Reader Used Excessive Force On Dog

A Tulsa family says a meter reader went too far by beating their dog and spraying it in the face with pepper spray, and wants the city to pay for the vet costs.

The city supports the worker, saying he "tried to protect himself from a dog that charged at him."

The owner plans to file a claim and press charges for what she says are excessive strikes to the dog.

Halo is a large Great Pyrenees and her owner, Alysha Powell, doesn't think she'd hurt a fly.

"She's four years old and had never hurt anybody. I don't understand," she said.

Last week she came home to what looked like a crime scene.

"She was bleeding everywhere. Blood was all over the neighbor's driveway," Powell said.

She said her neighbors told her about a water meter reader striking her dog with a long metal rod.

Neighbors told her the meter reader also used pepper spray on her dog.

City Spokesman Bob Bledsoe said the worker tried to defend himself.

"He went to read the meter, took lid off the meter can and all of a sudden he said both dogs were outside of the fence and charging him," Bledsoe said.

Halo is now on pain killers and antibiotics, and her owner wants to know why this happened to her dog.

"The entire section of her shoulder was nothing but blood and then they shaved her they saw it was just a stab wound," said Powell.

Powell admits her dog could have escaped from the backyard, but feels the meter reader used excessive force.

"I feel like she didn't deserve that. I feel like they carry mace for a reason and if you feel like your life is threatened, you to at least try to mace them first and then if that doesn't work, do what you have to do," Powell said.

Bledsoe said meter readers encounter dogs every day when they go into yards. He said the city workers have every right to defend themselves if they feel threatened.

"He immediately called his supervisor and reported the incident as they're asked to do and that was it," Bledsoe said.

Powell said she's trying to hire an attorney.