An Arlington resident says a Memphis Light, Gas and Water employee shot and killed their dog on Way Dawn Drive while investigating suspected utility theft, and the Shelby County Sheriff's Office is now looking into what happened. MLGW has confirmed that one of its employees shot the animal, but the utility says the worker was defending himself after the dog charged during the site visit.
According to Action News 5, MLGW had assigned two workers to investigate suspected utility theft at the Arlington property. The outlet reports that MLGW's investigators identified themselves and explained why they were on the property before the encounter with the dog turned deadly. MLGW has not officially confirmed the animal's current condition, though the resident says the dog was killed.
The Arlington shooting marks the second time in roughly two months that an armed MLGW revenue protection investigator has shot a residential dog while conducting a theft check in Shelby County. In July, an investigator entered a fenced backyard on Treadwell Street and fired six shots at a pit bull, which was later euthanized, according to Hoodline's prior coverage. MLGW said afterward that its investigators receive firearms training and are legally permitted to enter private property to inspect utility equipment.
Who Are MLGW's Revenue Protection Investigators?
MLGW's revenue protection team is a specially trained utility theft investigator division that operates under the utility's Corporate Security department. The Action News 5 report notes that these investigators are licensed armed security guards in Tennessee and are the only agency in Shelby County enforcing state criminal utility theft statutes — a role distinct from typical utility employees, who do not carry weapons.
MLGW has said its revenue protection investigators carry firearms to protect themselves, utility property, and services during site visits, and the utility has been public about highlighting this unit since July 2026. In the wake of the Arlington shooting, MLGW has asked customers to keep pets restrained during employee visits.
What Tennessee Law Says About Shooting a Dog
Tennessee law treats dogs as personal property, and killing someone else's animal is classified as theft of property unless the shooter had a reasonable belief of imminent danger of death or serious injury, per Tennessee Code Annotated § 39-14-205, as outlined by Justia Law. Critically, that statutory self-defense justification does not apply if the shooter was trespassing on the property at the time of the shooting.
Separately, Tennessee's Dianna Acklen Act imposes strict liability on dog owners for injuries their dogs cause in public spaces, but on private residential property — like the Arlington property — that strict liability standard does not apply unless the owner knew or should have known of the dog's dangerous propensities, according to The Higgins Firm. If the shooting is ultimately found unlawful, Tennessee statute also allows pet owners to recover up to $5,000 in non-economic damages for loss of companionship, on top of the animal's property value, as detailed by Ponce Law.
Utility Theft Enforcement Amid Rising Bills and Cutoffs
MLGW's aggressive theft enforcement comes as the utility grapples with steep disconnection rates and years of rising bills across Shelby County. Reporting from MLK50 found that nearly one in five Memphis households experienced a service disconnection by MLGW in 2025, giving the municipal utility one of the highest cutoff rates in the country, a trend the outlet attributes to poverty, aging housing stock, and extreme summer heat.
MLGW has defended its enforcement posture. Stolen electricity, gas, and water can increase costs for paying customers. The utility's rates were set for a multi-year 12% total increase, with a final 4% hike scheduled to commence in January 2026 and add roughly $5 to the average monthly household bill, as Hoodline reported at the time in its December coverage of the rate hikes. $9.4 million in federal LIHEAP funds was available, with processing at MLGW's Downtown Community Office.
Utility tampering itself carries real legal exposure under Tennessee law, according to Justia Law's summary of the relevant statutes. That enforcement framework is what sent MLGW's armed investigators to the Arlington property in the first place.
The Shelby County Sheriff's Office investigation into the Arlington shooting remains open, and it is not yet clear whether the agency will determine that MLGW's employees had lawful authority to enter the specific area of the property where the dog was shot. Whether criminal charges or a civil lawsuit follow will likely hinge on those same questions of trespass and imminent threat that have already shadowed the Treadwell Street case from July.
