The owner of the dog tased on Christmas Eve is defending his dog’s actions.

Dennis Ray Jones, who is charged with obstruction of a law enforcement officer, failure to restrain the dog and failure to inoculate the dog, over the incident, said the dog “was in his own yard, protecting his yard,” which Jones said the police “had no right to be in, and had no right to tase my dog.”

Griffin Police tased a dog that charged at two officers about 9:04 a.m., Christmas Eve. The officers were attempting to contact the homeowner about a complaint from a neighbor the next street over of the dog being loose.

Officers reportedly attempted to knock on back door of the Melton Street residence after being advised that Jones does not use the front door. Jones admitted he does not use the front door, but said while the dog, a Weimaraner, is strong and had broken his chain, “it never leaves the yard. I’ve never had a problem. My dog didn’t bother a soul.”

The two officers discovered an unrestrained brown dog sitting on the back porch of the residence. Once the dog noticed the officers, it reportedly began growling and barking, so the officers began walking to the front of residence, retreating from the animal.

The dog reportedly began running after both officers, displaying his teeth and continuing to growl. Jones said the dog “was doing his job, he had every right to defend his yard, he didn’t know them.”

The officers reportedly displayed and activated their department issued Tasers, with one yelling for the homeowner to come outside and announcing herself as a police officer and other giving verbal commands to the dog to sit and stay, before deploying his Taser at the dog.

Jones questioned that account from police, saying he only discovered the officers when he was on his front porch and saw one of the officers walking around his house. He also questioned the account that the dog was shot in the side with the Taser.

“We had to pull the prongs out of the top of his head,” Jones said. The dog ran to a relative’s house nearby, Jones said, where he later retrieved it.

Jones admitted to being irate with the officers for tasing his dog, and said he apologized later to both officers.