The pit bull fatally shot by Jacqueline Maguire, Philly’s top FBI agent, severely injured another dog earlier this year, neighbors say
Less than a thirty day period before Jacqueline Maguire, the FBI’s top agent in Philadelphia, shot and killed a pit bull as it reportedly attacked her smaller pet dog on a Centre Metropolis road this week, that pit bull seriously injured a further puppy, demanding a few surgeries and $9,000 in vet charges, in accordance to residents of the making the place the previously incident took spot.
The Jan. 27 fracas — between the 7-calendar year-aged pit bull named Mia and a Siberian husky combine puppy dog that lived in the exact same apartment sophisticated — prompted management to ban the pit bull from a neighborhood pet park and involve it to be muzzled in all widespread areas, 3 neighbors at the Lincoln Sq. apartments at Wide Street and Washington Avenue claimed.
Those citizens — most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to stay away from conflict with neighbors — mentioned they had been prompted to share the story with The Inquirer right after viewing news of the pit bull’s fatal taking pictures Monday and in reaction to a Television set job interview in which the dog’s proprietor, Maria Esser, explained she’d hardly ever had an incident with the puppy right before.
“It’s been a very little disheartening,” explained a single resident who witnessed the earlier dog combat. “Many of us in the building know that this pet [Mia] was not wholly harmless.”
The injured puppy’s proprietor stated she was stunned to study that the pet dog Maguire shot Monday was the exact just one that little bit her puppy’s leg through to the bone just months previously.
“I appeared at the shots and identified the dog quickly,” she explained. “It’s a mixed bag of emotions.”
Esser, 27, has not responded to requests to examine that previously incident even with numerous tries to get to her immediately and by way of spouse and children users over the past two days.
And professionals at the creating stated Friday they would only launch data to the law enforcement.
But the residents’ accounts lose new light on the conditions surrounding the pit bull’s extremely publicized dying — an incident that has divided pet dog house owners throughout the metropolis, spawned uproar on social media, and prompted debates over Maguire’s use of force.
Many of the details encompassing what led to the pit bull’s lethal shooting Monday remain hazy.
Maguire has not responded to recurring requests for remark. Philadelphia law enforcement and the FBI proceed to examine.
Officially, they’ve mentioned only that an off-responsibility FBI agent fatally shot an “aggressive dog” outdoors the Touraine condominium developing after it appeared to assault the agent’s doggy.
But resources close to the investigation have determined the shooter as Jacqueline Maguire — who was appointed special agent in demand of the FBI’s Philadelphia field place of work in 2021 — and explained footage of the incident caught by nearby stability cameras.
» Examine More: Who is Jacqueline Maguire, the FBI’s major agent in Philly facing scrutiny for fatally taking pictures a puppy in Center Town?
In accordance to just one source, who spoke on the ailment of anonymity to discuss the ongoing probe, the online video confirmed Maguire sitting down on a bench with her small dog in her lap, when the pit bull rushed ahead, dragging along Esser, and snatched the agent’s dog off her lap and commenced aggressively shaking it.
Maguire threw herself into the fray attempting to independent the animals, the supply mentioned, just before she inevitably drew her weapon, positioned it right in opposition to the pit bull’s disguise and fired.
So far, law enforcement have refused to launch that footage publicly.
But in a statement to The Inquirer and an job interview with CBS3 before this week, Esser and her loved ones have disputed that account. They described Mia as a “loyal and loving dog” and Maguire’s use of force as “reckless” and “a blatant disregard for the protection of any person around for the duration of the incident.”
“Our puppies obtained into an altercation,” Esser told the information station Tuesday. “Her puppy commenced barking at my canine, and Mia had gotten ahold of [Maguire’s] dog’s harness … By the time I went down to get her off, this girl shot my pet.”
Esser’s neighbors at the Lincoln Square setting up stated they viewed her job interview this 7 days in disbelief, prompting some to access out to The Inquirer to report the before dog combat.
“Wait a minute, 3 months in the past that pet dog place another puppy in a solid,” mentioned Lisa DePaulo, a journalist who life in the building. “If one thing like that transpires you put a muzzle on your doggy just before you choose it out.”
The Siberian husky’s proprietor, a 29-year-aged who asked not to named to stay away from conflict with neighbors, was more circumspect.
She reported she’d just occur again from getting her puppy to the pet dog park when she encountered Mia in the building’s hallway staying walked by just one of Esser’s mates.
Her pup, she stated, sniffed at the pit bull who responded aggressively and within seconds, the two canine were snarling, biting, and locking on to every other.
“It honestly sounded like a youngster was remaining damage,” stated one particular neighbor who listened to the battle from inside of her apartment, stepped outside the house to see what was likely on and afterwards drove the husky puppy and its proprietor to the veterinary hospital. “You could see the bone in the [Siberian husky’s] leg. There was blood in all places. She’s had several surgeries considering that.”
Even with the extent of that dog’s injuries neither its operator nor the girl who stopped to enable set the blame totally on Mia.
“Both canines were injured,” the neighbor stated. “It wasn’t a 1-sided issue.”
The puppy’s proprietor acknowledged the pit bull may possibly have mistaken her smaller dog’s curiosity for aggression. She did not file a police report at the time but said she now intends to do so.
“Dogs are reactive,” she claimed. “These points transpire unfortunately.”
Continue to, both of those women explained they appreciated the initiatives by the condominium building’s administration to set the pit bull underneath tighter regulate. They surprise no matter whether the incident that led to its fatal shooting Monday may possibly have been avoided.
But for DePaulo, the journalist who life in the constructing, that incident was a ultimate straw. A canine proprietor herself, she strategies to press Lincoln Square’s administration to impose breed constraints in the setting up and stated she sympathizes with Maguire.
“I really do not have a gun,” she claimed. “But if I did and that was taking place to my puppy … I’d pull it in a heartbeat.”