On June 29, 2019, Loveland, Colorado business owners Wendy Love and Jay Hamm pulled into an empty commercial parking lot to water their three dogs during a firewood delivery run. A neighboring property owner called police to report suspected trespassing. Officer Matthew Grashorn arrived, and while two of the dogs came back when called, a 14-month-old Staffordshire terrier/boxer mix named Herkimer kept approaching. Grashorn drew his weapon and fired twice. Herkimer spent four days in intensive care before he had to be euthanized. Love and Hamm sued in 2021, arguing the shooting was an unreasonable seizure under the Fourth Amendment. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to grant Grashorn qualified immunity, ruling a jury could find Herkimer posed no imminent threat — a decision that now sets precedent across Colorado and five other states. On June 9, 2026, nearly seven years after the shooting, the City of Loveland agreed to pay $675,000, the largest known settlement for a police dog shooting in Colorado's history, and to require officers to retrain on dog encounters every three years going forward.
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Commentary: Nothing says "trust the badge" like needing a wrongful-death lawsuit and a federal appeals court ruling before admitting that shooting a wagging dog isn't reasonable force. Herkimer had to die so Loveland could finally write a training manual. The shocking part of all this is that the government was eventually held accountable.
Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/loveland-settlement-shooting-pet-dog/
AI disclosure: ⚠️ This content was researched and written with AI assistance and may be fully AI-generated. All facts are sourced from the linked article and corroborating sources.
