A Spring Hope man recently paid a more than $200 vet bill for a puppy that was hit by a Nash County deputy’s patrol car.

He shouldn’t have had to.

Robert Gray witnessed the patrol car driven by Investigator Samuel Weeks hit the 6-month-old puppy, Diamond, on Jan. 19 on South Walnut Street. Gray had turned around to follow the vehicle after it had drifted into his lane and almost ran into him.

Diamond’s owner, Janice Gillespie, could not afford to pay for medical treatment for the puppy, who had a head injury and a broken leg. So Gray paid the bill. The Edgecombe-Nash Humane Society later paid to have the puppy’s leg reset in a cast.

Gray met the next day with Nash County Sheriff Dick Jenkins, who reviewed the Spring Hope Police Department’s crash report, which states that the puppy ran out into the street. Gillespie said Diamond ran out of her house when she opened the door for her niece.

Jenkins said that no disciplinary action will be taken against Weeks and that the sheriff’s office will not reimburse either Gray or the Edgecombe-Nash Humane Society for the puppy’s medical bills.

He should rethink that decision.

The responsibility for what happened to Diamond rests squarely with Weeks. We like to think that people should be held accountable for the consequences of their actions – and if that person is a law enforcement officer, we expect them to be – and so should their superior officers.

Weeks should repay Gray and the Humane Society for the money they spent to help the puppy. Had his patrol car knocked down Gillespie’s mailbox or crashed into her porch, would the sheriff have refused to have either his office or Weeks pay for the repair costs?

We doubt it. The puppy’s vet bills are no different. Gray and the Humane Society should be reimbursed.