Ryan Scott knew his dog was going to die when he held him in his arms yesterday morning.

The Pasadena man came home on his lunch break to let his 7 month-old pit bull, Hershey, outside. Within a few moments, the dog would be shot by a man identified as a Social Security investigator after the animal got loose.

"I picked him up and I knew he was going to die," Mr. Scott said.

Cpl. Mark Shawkey, county police spokesman, said officers who arrived at Mr. Scott's home on Colony Road at just after 11 a.m. found a official from the Office of the Inspector General.

He told them he was investigating a Social Security case....