Expand / Collapse search
☰

Hillsborough County K-9 shot, killed after attacking neighbor's alpaca: HCSO

By and
Published  March 18, 2025 11:02am EDT
Hillsborough County
FOX 13 News

HCSO K-9 shot after alpaca attack

FOX 13's Evyn Moon reports on a K-9 with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office being shot and killed after jumping a fence and attacking an alpaca on Monday around 9:30 p.m. in Lithia.

The Brief

    • K-9 Brooks with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office died after being shot on Monday night, HCSO said.
    • Investigators said the K-9 jumped a fence outside his handler's home and attacked a neighbor's alpaca.
    • The neighbor fired a warning shot first, then shot Brooks when he continued attacking the alpaca, according to HCSO.

LITHIA, Fla. - A K-9 with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office was shot and killed after jumping a fence and attacking an alpaca, officials said.

The backstory:

According to HCSO, Master Deputy Charles Perdomo let his K-9, Brooks, outside for a bathroom break in his fenced yard in Lithia around 9:30 p.m. Monday.

Brooks jumped the fence, investigators said, and ran into the woods behind the deputy's home before a neighbor found the K-9 attacking his alpaca.

Pictured: K-9 Brooks. Courtesy: Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

Pictured: K-9 Brooks. Courtesy: Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies said the neighbor, who did not know that Brooks was a K-9 with the sheriff's office, fired a warning shot. When the attack continued, he shot the dog, according to HCSO.

The sheriff's office said the alpaca is receiving treatment for a minor leg injury.

Follow FOX 13 on YouTube

What they're saying:

"We are heartbroken over the loss of K9 Brooks, a dedicated and courageous member of our HCSO family," Sheriff Chad Chronister said. "The unbreakable bond between a K9 and their partner is like no other, making this loss even more heartbreaking. Our thoughts are with Deputy Perdomo and all those affected."

FOX 13 spoke with a retired K-9 Unit officer and handler of over a decade about the incident, which he said is rare and tragic. 

"Dogs will be dogs. They have hunt drive and they have prey drive," said Matthew Palmer, a retired K-9 police handler. "There's no telling how many times that dog has heard the alpaca make noises. Maybe the alpaca was making some noise, and he got let out to take a break, he decided to hop that fence and go investigate. But it doesn't sound like he was trying to kill the alpaca with it going for a leg. A lot of dogs are trained to bite legs. We don't bite the deadly areas, like your throat. We try to stay away from the groin. Accidents happen, of course, but typically it's either a leg or an arm. Being that the alpaca has four of those, it was easy to go ahead and grab on to it."

What's next:

HCSO says it's investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

The Source: This story was written with information from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA:

Hillsborough CountyCrime and Public Safety