Dog in Palm Bay put down after being shot

PALM BAY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - The owner of a 4-year-old pit bull is devastated after her dog was shot outside her home. 

“I can't stop crying,” said Mikayla Butcher, describing her dog, "Sammy," as her baby. “She had two bullets in her lungs and couldn’t breathe, so she basically died in the back of my car on the way to the animal hospital.”

But police said the shooter did nothing wrong.  He was just walking his dog, when police said the pit bull charged at him.   Officers said he did what he had to do, to protect himself and his own pet. He called 911: 
 
"I was attacked by two pit bulls," he told a 911 dispatcher. "They attacked me and my dog. I had to discharge my weapon at the dog."

Butcher, said Sammy was tied up in her backyard, but somehow the stake came out of the ground.

“She was a pit bull, and everyone thinks pit bulls are vicious and all he saw was a pit bull running towards him and shot him," she said.  "I can't really blame him, because he doesn't know. Most people don't.”

Still, she reached out to an attorney and wants justice for Sammy.  Officers said no charges have been filed, because this was a case of self-defense.