A family dog was shot to death by police due to lack of warning signs.

Police were responding to a burglary alarm at Santana Motors late Monday night, but they didn't find burglars. Instead, they found 4-year-old Roby.

The Sheriff's office said Roby charged at a deputy who fired two gunshots at the dog.

Florentino Santana, the dog's owner, believes Roby came out to the officers, was shot, and ran back to his dog house.

"He was a humble dog. He was brought up as a pet at home," said Santana.

The Sherriff's office said shootings involving dogs do happen frequently. The Sherriff's Department and the family agree that the shooting was an unfortunate "freak accident."

"It was a freak accident," Santana said. "I'm not blaming the sheriffs or anything like that. They were doing their job responding to a burglary and the dog was here. They ran into the dog and it was a freak accident."

Santana admitted that there were no signs posted warning of a guard dog, but also said that Roby was only intended to be a workplace pet.

Santana said Roby had been let out at night recently due to a burglary that at the business within the past week.

Police said they only had a split-second to react.

"Pepper spray may or may not be effective, sometimes tasers may or may not be affective if you miss," said Sr. Deputy Michael Whorf. "Its a very difficult situation to be put into."

Santana suggests posting signs that warn of a guard dog and notifying alarm companies of a guard dog on the premises so that they can notify law enforcement.

Santana said that if he had done so, Roby might still be alive.