Family wants Nassau to pay medical bills after cop car hits support dog

A Nassau police officer driving a department-issued SUV in Long Beach earlier this month struck an emotional support dog, leaving the animal’s family with $13,000 in medical bills that the county refuses to pay because the pet was unleashed.

Daisy, a 5-year-old boxer, sustained a punctured lung, bruised ribs and internal bleeding when the patrol vehicle hit her Oct. 13, according to family members. She underwent two surgeries to repair her shoulder and may require amputation of her left front leg from the accident, which was witnessed by two of the family's three children, according to Jessica Talavera, 35, the dog's owner.

The previously active 80-pound dog now whimpers in pain throughout the night, is given a half dozen pills daily, including a fentanyl patch for pain, and can no longer make it outside to relieve herself, according to Talavera.

"It's been very difficult," said Talavera, who was in Texas on a business trip at the time of the accident but rushed home the next day. 

"She's not sleeping at night. She's crying and can't get comfortable because she has a cast on her leg. She's able to sit up but not able to put herself down," Talavera said of Daisy. "So I have to flip her every hour or so in the middle of the night."

Talavera said the medical bills for Daisy's care that have been largely paid by her parents — both former NYPD officers.

A county spokesman said Nassau will not pay Daisy's medical bills because she was unleashed.

County Executive Bruce Blakeman said: “As a dog lover I feel sorry for the injured dog and family, but this is a good time [to] remind all dog owners to keep their dogs on a leash."

The family is pursuing a complaint against the officer with the department's Internal Affairs Unit, according to the family’s lawyer. Newsday is not identifying the officer because she's not charged with a crime.

The officer, who records show lives a few blocks from the accident scene, left without providing her name, according to John Graham, Talavera's ex-husband, who was watching Daisy and the children when the dog was hit. 

In a statement, Nassau police confirmed the officer was in uniform and driving a marked police vehicle at the time of the accident but said she did identify herself to Graham. The department also confirmed it has opened an investigation.

“The dog then jumped into the backseat of the caretaker’s vehicle and it was believed at the time to have no injuries," the statement said. "A report has been filed with the department and it is in the early stages of the investigation.”

Talavera said the family got Daisy to help her 12-year-old daughter, Molly, who has selective mutism — a condition where the individual speaks freely at home but freezes with anxiety around others. Daisy, Talavera said, has helped Molly become more assertive and improved the middle schooler's confidence. 

On the morning of Oct. 13, Graham picked up his two youngest children from Talavera's West Hudson Street home and was preparing to take them to school. Graham, also of Long Beach, said he was on the front porch with Daisy, preparing to put on her leash, when she ran down the steps toward his vehicle and was struck in the street by the police SUV.

"The cop was coming along at the perfect time and just smashed her," Graham said. "It was terrible. I screamed for her but it was too late … I did not think the dog was going to survive."

Daisy went airborne as the children watched in horror, Graham said.

Graham rushed Daisy to an Oceanside animal hospital where she spent the night. The officer, he said, left without sharing contact information or offering medical assistance. The officer did not immediately report the accident to her superiors, police officials later told Talavera.

The family identified the officer through social media and filed an accident report with the Long Beach Police Department, which declined to comment, citing a joint ongoing investigation with county police.

In the report, the officer said Daisy "darted in front of the car."

Daisy underwent two surgeries at a Farmingdale veterinary clinic where doctors implanted a prosthesis to repair her dislocated shoulder. The clinic did not respond to calls for comment.

Talavera, meanwhile, now sleeps on her first-floor couch to be closer to Daisy as the dog continues her recuperation.

"She was our service dog," Talavera said. "And now we're getting acclimated to servicing her … My whole world is upside down because of this. I don't sleep. I am emotionally and physically drained from this."