GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING: The following story contains graphic content about the shooting death of an animal some readers might find disturbing. Reader caution is advised.

WINTERS - The December 14th animal control officer shooting of a dog in Winters, Texas led to public outrage and scrutiny of the incident, which the City of Winters defended.

The animal control officer was acting in “the normal course of his duties,” according to a statement from Winters Police Department chief Paula Geyer.

Winters resident Angela New didn't agree with Geyer's assessment.

New, who lives across the street from where the event took place, uploaded a cell phone video roughly a minute-long of the shooting that occurred that Tuesday morning. New's own surveillance cameras also provide information about what happened.

Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, an animal control officer with the City of Winters can be seen standing near a white pickup parked outside a home. As the animal control officer speaks to a second city employee wearing a yellow vest. A black Great Dane, Baxter, is seen lying on the ground on the other side of a chain-link fence, struggling to get up. According to New, the dog had been shot by the animal control officer.  

New can be heard speaking to the men from cross the street, "I've watched this dog run around my neighborhood for days now, and he's never attacked any of us."

Both the city employee and the animal control officer claim in the video the dog had tried to bite them. As a result, the animal control officer had shot Baxter at least once already.

"You're not doing your job as a dog catcher by letting the (expletive) thing suffer like that," New can be heard in the video.

Shortly after New's remarks, the animal control officer walks over to the fence, leans over the fence, points a handgun, pulls the trigger, and fires one last shot into the dog's head.

New's second video showed animal control officer in the yard with the dog peacefully walking behind him. The 2nd video was from New's surveillance cameras at her house, which is across the street from where the dog was killed.

The dog's owners live next door to the yard where the dog was killed. The dog had jumped the fence into the neighbor's yard. The new video shows the animal control officer walking in the yard where the dog was enclosed.

In the video, the animal control officer is seen coming around in the back yard from the far side of the house. Baxter is seen peacefully walking along behind the officer in the yard. The video doesn't show the dog snapping or biting at the animal control officer, as the original police incident report allegedly states, or as the men claimed in New's original video.

Once at the gate, the animal control officer leaves the dog in the yard and walks outside the fence and talks to another Street Department city worker. A few seconds later, the animal control officer reaches over the fence and shoots the dog, twice. According to New, "That dog wasn't hurting anyone. He's been in that yard before. He's sat out there with the lady who lives in that house. I believe the animal control officer purposefully led Baxter away from the fence between the yards so that he could kill him without Baxter's owners knowing."

The KTAB story says that the police department's statement said, "The officer was unable to use a catch pole, deeming the action too dangerous to himself and risking allowing the dog back onto the streets, according to the report. In addition, the Winters PD says after all other options were exhausted, 'The decision was made to neutralize the dog by means of a firearm discharge,' the report states.'

The video does not show the animal control officer attempting to use non-lethal measures, such as a catch-pole or tranquilizer gun to remove the dog from the yard without harming the animal.

The videos show the two city vehicles arriving and parking along the fence. A man exits from each vehicle. The animal control officer walks to the other side of the house and comes into the back yard. He walks from the other side of the yard to the side where the vehicles are parked as Baxter walks peacefully along behind and beside him. The officer exits the gate and walks outside the fence to where the trucks are parked. He then walks up to the fence and shoots Baxter.

At the Winters City Council monthly meeting on December 20, Mayor Mark Burkhart read a statement that addressed the incident. The statement, in its entirety, reads:

An unfortunate incident has occurred here in Winters. Our deepest sympathy goes to the family for the loss of a family pet. Not just a pet, but a family member.

Your voices have been heard and the steps for change are in motion.

Chief Geyer (Winters police chief) has submitted the reports and possible charges against the animal control officer to the District Attorney's office. This information will be reviewed and the decision to move forward will be decided outside of Winters. If the decision is made to move forward with the case, an outside agency will be selected to conduct an independent investigation.

Our procedures on how to handle animals will have to be examined and reassessed. The handling of animals will be humanely as possible to ensure this does not happen again.

Police Chief Paula Geyer, who released the original statement to KTAB and conducted the initial investigation didn't speak at the city council meeting.

The city didn't release any statement regarding possible disciplinary action against the two employees. Allegedly, the two men were off of work with pay for 2-weeks due to threats. Additionally, the city didn't release a statement about the incident once the employees returned to work. The last comments from the city were the press release from Mayor Mark Burkhart on December 20.

New commented about the shooting at the December city council meeting, "I do want justice for Baxter. I know what I saw the do was wrong. 30 minutes before the meeting I posted some videos that show the dog catcher in the back yard with the dog. The dog is walking in front of him wagging his tail. He is leading the the dog from one side of the house to the other where he does shoot him just a couple of seconds later. They did not do anything to try to prevent a shooting. It's not right."

In some comments on social media, the city allegedly accuses New of "clipping" the original video and not showing the full story. City officials haven't made any comment since the 2nd video surfaced.

Shortly after the controversial shooting, t-shirts started popping up around Winters, "#JusticeForBaxter." The social movement also picked up steam on social media, with Facebook and Instagram being flooded with #JusticeForBaxter memes.

Baxter's owners, Jessica and Cole Hooser, wear the shirts, as do many residents of this small west Texas town. New's store, Gypsy Threads Tees & More receives regular orders for the shirts.

The pair of videos posted on Facebook and Instagram have garnered over 50,000 views, and continue to be shared around the internet. Stories about the shooting receive tens of thousands of clicks from people looking for updates or other information about the shooting. Baxter's story has received interest from New York to California to Florida, and continues to attract attention.

After the meeting, Hooser commented on the community's reaction, "It's been amazing. I work at the school and the next day (after the shooting) people were coming up to me and apologizing. We appreciate the support. If Angela hadn't been recording, we wouldn't have known what happened to him (Baxter).

119th District Attorney John Best responded on February 17 to an email sent by the newspaper, "The case has been referred to our office and we are in the process of reviewing all of the evidence to determine how best to proceed.  The case may be referred to another law-enforcement agency for further investigation going forward, but that has not happened yet."