A Cleveland police officer shot and killed a family pet while responding to a call. The family is upset, but who is at fault?

NewsChannel5's Chris Hernandez reports that a controversial shooting happened when an officer came face-to-face with a pit bull.

The dog was a pit bull, not a poodle. But Santos Lozada Jr. said that his big, 4-year-old dog, named Money, was well trained. He's angry that police shot and killed it.

"I went out there like, 'What's going on?'" Lozada said. "He says, 'Your dog attacked me,' (and) I said, 'My dog doesn't attack nobody.'"

Lozada's two pit bull puppies play with his son. He keeps his pets' pictures in his wallet.

"Oh, that was my son," he said. "I mean, I raised him since he was old enough to be away from the mom. I became his daddy. I slept with him. He went everywhere with me."

Police came to Lozada's residence to answer a security alarm. Two officers headed through the open gate, and the dog came to meet them.

The shooting happened in the driveway. The key point of contention is this: Was the dog in attack mode as he came toward the officers? Police said that the dog was. But Lozada said that he didn't hear his dog even growl or bark.

A neighbor agreed with Lozada.

"He wasn't coming that fast, (and) he wasn't growling or nothing," witness Chris Dobrinsky said.

Lozada filed a complaint against police, but he's charged with violating the vicious dog law.

Pit bulls must be kept in a pen with a top, behind a 6-foot-tall fence, or tethered securely. Lozada's gate was open, and he has a short fence.

"He didn't use mace that postmen use," Lozada said.

Police said that, "there's little doubt a pit bull in attack mode is a threat to a police officer, and use of a firearm would be appropriate in that situation."

Police say that the officer fired twice, and the dog was only 3 feet away.

Lozada says that four small children were playing in the back yard, and he was working on his car nearby when the shooting happened.

Police say that no one else was in danger during the shooting, WEWS reports.