Owner mourns support dog shot by Mesa officer

Buddah’s bowls of water and kibbles are still sitting out, as are his stuffed toys – over a week following his death.

“I can’t get rid of that,” said Heidi Levering, who uses a wheelchair. “I mean, for eight years he’s been family.”

Levering said she doesn’t have the heart just yet to put away the reminders of her emotional-support dog that was fatally shot by a Mesa Police officer, begging the question if the use of lethal force was justified.

The event unfolded on a late Friday night Aug. 15 at an apartment complex on Broadway Road near Oliver, less than 2 miles from Mesa City Hall.

Levering, 56, said she was outside with Buddah, a 37-pound mutt, who was unleashed and relieving himself at the base of an Oleander tree just footsteps from her front door when a Mesa patrol car pulled up