Choking back tears, Schapper thanked Commissioner Bob Richer, but said it was too soon after the Dec. 9 incident, when Rowdy was blasted with a shotgun as he chased a mule deer near the Trailside neighborhood in Snyderville Basin.

"It was a sweet gesture," she said after meeting with commissioners, Sheriff Dave Edmunds and representatives of the Utah Division of Wildlife resources. "But I'm not OK right now with it. You can bring a new pet in and that's good. But, right now, I want Rowdy back. It's just too painful."

The sheriff told commissioners the shooting was regrettable but necessary.

"We did not take any sadistic pleasure in destroying this animal," he said. "But as it relates to the shooting, the deputies acted legally in terms of protecting wildlife."

Nonetheless, Richer asked if there weren't an alternative to using deadly force. "No one wanted this to happen. And no one wants this to happen again."

Deputies carry pepper guns and stun guns, Edmunds explained.

But Rowdy and another dog chasing the buck were too far away for those measures to be effective.

"They believed their only recourse was lethal force," he said.

Winter is a difficult time for deer, and dogs can run them down and kill them, said Bruce Johnson, a DWR conservation officer.

"I've seen a deer that was still alive with its entrails pulled out by dogs," he said. "This is a warning for all dog owners: Please keep track of your dogs so we don't have this type of incident in the future."

Whether the shooting was warranted, Schapper's mother, Karen Amundson, told commissioners that the county's animal-control officers were insensitive and unprofessional.

The dead animal was taken to Schapper's house, where officers cited her. She was too upset to take the dead pet, but when her sister and a friend went to the animal-control shelter, they were forced to rummage through a Dumpster to collect the animal.

"It's the whole people-skills thing," Amundson said. "We don't have trust and faith in our animal-control officers."

The sheriff agreed with Commissioner Sally Elliott, who demanded that officers participate in consumer-service training.

"They shouldn't have had to retrieve the animal from the Dumpster," Edmunds said. "That will not occur again."

Schapper said she appreciated the commission's efforts and hoped that no more dogs would be shot.

"I feel better knowing something is being done," she said. "They need to put more effort into being humane. I think other things could have been done - despite what the officers said."

csmart@sltrib.com