A Tennessee police officer is accused of fatally shooting seven dogs during an animal welfare check while their owners were at dinner. He was later arrested.

Connor Brackin, a former McNairy County sheriff’s deputy, responded to a welfare check at a home in Bethel Springs on Nov. 4 following a report of dogs, according to Atlanta News First.

Authorities allege that upon arrival, Brackin fired a shotgun at the animals without justification.

The dogs’ owners, Kevin Dismuke and his wife, had gone out to dinner and returned to find three of their pets dead inside the house and four more killed outside, according to the report. Fox 13 Memphis.

“To get out of your car with a .223 rifle and shoot through my goddamn house,” Dismuke told the media, expressing his disbelief and devastation.

The couple said a report to law enforcement falsely claimed their pets were malnourished and abandoned.

“I don’t know where they got the idea that they were malnourished or abandoned,” Mr Dismuke said. “Why he stopped and did what he did, I don’t have an answer for that. I’ll never have an answer for that.”

A warrant was issued for Brackin on Tuesday, and he turned himself in to authorities on Wednesday before being released on bail.

At the time of the incident, Brackin had been with the sheriff’s office for less than a month. He was later fired from his position and charged with seven counts of aggravated cruelty to animals and eight counts of reckless endangerment.