Animal lover arrested for trying to identify police marksman who killed XL bully
Sophie Zaherali's three year old dog called Ghost died after being shot four times by police on December 7 in Sheffield.
The mother-of-three claims the dog, which weighed nine stone, was not lawfully killed because there was no evidence it had been aggressive.
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Hide AdSophie has lodged a complaint with the official police watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
She was arrested for alleged witness intimidation after a short video of the shooting was posted online and she appealed for the name of the armed officer.
She says she did this as she wants to take legal action against the marksman and South Yorkshire Police.
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Sophie was held by police and had her mobile phone and two other dogs - neither of which are XL Bullies - seized while she was in custody.
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Hide AdHer dogs, pocket bullies called Rex and Nova, have since been returned to her, but police still have her phone and have yet to return Ghost's body to her, which she says prevents her from being allowed to fully grieve.
Sophie, who says she has a legal exemption to keep the banned breed, said: "I want to take legal action. I think he should be treated like anyone else. I believe he has used the firearm unlawfully.
"He's ripped my family apart and caused distress to the neighbourhood. The police didn't arrive with their sirens on, so when people heard the bangs, they were scared as to what was happening.
"Ghost was shot four times and the officer I saw fire shots three and four was standing over my dog as he was laying on the floor.
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Hide Ad"I just feel shocked and numb. We're not able to grieve, they won't give us his body. They're still holding him and I won't feel like he's actually gone until we can lay him to rest and bring him home."
Sophie says she believes Ghost got out of her house in the Hillsborough area of the city on December 7 when strong winds blew open her front door.
At the time, she was upstairs getting her youngest son Elijah, four, ready and wasn't aware the door had been blown open by the winds.
She heard a commotion on the street and asked her older son Kai, 11, to look out the window to see what was going on, only to be told armed police were standing over her dog.
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Hide AdHer partner, Wayne Hudson, 31, had raced outside after hearing two loud bangs and was held back by officers as another shot was fired at Ghost.
South Yorkshire Police said it received two 999 calls, one claiming Ghost had bitten a woman while he was in the street, and another from a dog owner who felt intimated by his presence and had to hold her dog above her head.
The force said that although the woman "was not injured", a decision was made to "humanely dispatch the dog at the scene" due to the "significant risk posed".
However, neither witness was willing to make a statement and the dog's death sparked a protest outside a police station on Saturday, which was attended by more than 30 people.
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Sophie, a self-employed beautician who is also mother to Alissia, 12, rejected the police's claim that Ghost posed any risk or that he had charged at officers.
She said: "I would put my life on it that Ghost has never bitten anybody. My dog is 9st and 5'6 on his back legs, he is huge. Holding your dog above your head isn't going to stop him.
"Please don't tell me my dog has tried to attack somebody. There's no evidence of an attack."
Sophie claims she was shown snippets of bodycam footage by police, which she says an officer can be heard enticing Ghost towards him using a 'puppy dog voice'.
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Hide AdShe said: "The police say they did it because Ghost bit somebody, but there is no statement to say this. The firearms officer statement says the dog turned his attention to the police and he charged at them.
"But on the footage, I couldn't hear any panic in their voices. You can hear him say 'come here' in a puppy dog voice to entice him over towards them. In my opinion, the police cleared the public and were armed with guns and executed him."
Sophie says she wants to take legal action against the force and the officer who fired shots at Ghost, which is why she appealed for information about his identity.
But three police cars and two vans turned up at her house on January 3 to arrest her, although she wasn't home at the time as she working and handed herself into police later that day.
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Hide AdShe added: "I posted on Facebook pleading for his identity with my number on it. I asked 'do you know this man? I want to ask him some questions, like why he shot my dog?'
"He was described as heroic and brave for taking down an XL Bully. He stood over my dog and blasted him in the face.


"Does he feel intimated because he knows he's messed up? Surely you wouldn't feel intimated by putting a name to a face of someone who is heroic and brave?"
South Yorkshire Police said that on December 7 the reported victim “was not injured during the incident” and previously: “Given the significant risk posed, a decision was made to humanely dispatch the dog at the scene.”
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Hide AdIn an updated statement, a spokesman said: “On January 3, a 30-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of witness intimidation. She has since been released on police bail while enquiries continue.
“During a search warrant, two dogs were seized from a property in the Hillsborough area to be assessed for their breed and ensuring safeguarding for vulnerable people within the property could take place. The dogs have since been returned to their owner.
“Our investigation is on-going and the dog’s body forms part of evidence and remains in possession at this time. Our investigation into a dog dangerously out of control in the Hillsborough area of Sheffield remains on-going.”
In February 2024, it became illegal to keep an XL Bully dog in the UK without a Certificate of Exemption.
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Hide AdIt also became an offence to sell, abandon, give away, or breed an XL Bully - as well as to have one in public without a lead and muzzle.
More than a dozen dogs have been shot dead by South Yorkshire Police in the past year.