Police in Wheat Ridge are looking for two robbery suspects accused of shooting a service dog as she attempted to defend her owner inside a hotel room last Friday.
The 10-year-old dog, named Nalla, survived but one of her legs had to be amputated, police say.
The robbery occurred November 10 at the American Motel near Interstate 70 and Kipling Street in Wheat Ridge.
Around 11:30 p.m., police say a man and a woman broke into the victims' room where Deanna Rodrock and her niece were fast asleep.
The male suspect shot Nalla when the dog began defending her owner against the attack.
“The male came right up to me. He held the gun to my face, told me, 'I want your money and your pills, whatever you have!’” Rodrock said.
When she told him she didn't have cash, he pistol-whipped her. At the same time, Rodrock said the female assailant forced her niece to the floor and held a gun to her head.
That’s when Nalla, a pit bull mix, leaped into action.
“She got him pretty good in the arm and the leg, and he shot her,” Rodrock said.
Still, Nalla and Stella, the family’s other dog, went after the suspects as they fled with her personal belongings down the hallway.
Shortly after the suspects leave the hotel, Wheat Ridge Police arrive on scene, where officers found the injured Nalla in the hotel’s parking lot.