Police shoot dog

[RicePaddyDaddy]

http://www.wtvq.com/news/4938-family-of-dog-killed-by-officer-speaks

Key words here are "fenced in backyard".
The same thing happen near me a few years back.I can understand trying to catch a bad guy but short cutting over somebody's fence....I just don't know about that.My dogs are in a fenced in back yard that is posted "Beware of Dog".The fence and the signs I put up are for everyone's safety so if you climb over the fence would my dog get shot for protecting our home ? Would the police department say "too bad" for ignoring my signs and shooting my dog ? I think it all comes down to.....I'm not the crook they're chasing so therefore they have no reason to enter my property.The police can not protect me so my fence,my gun and my dogs do.As smart as my dogs are they don't check ID's,all they know is a stranger is coming in.

[jbruney]

I honestly believe that I'd go for a chunk of his ass for shooting one of my dogs. I feel they could have held off until the perp jumped over the other side of the fence and into a more favorable area. I respect police doing their duty, but popping one of my dogs while in my yard would cause me to take exception.

[yellowhand]

(Police say they were serving an arrest warrant on a juvenile)
What were they trying to arrest the kid for, murder, or two unpaid parking tickets?
That's my question and since the press report did not say, suggest to me it was for something minor.
The other issue that comes to mind is, the quickness of closing an officer involved shooting/firing his weapon and a clipped, "case is now closed".
Six hits, means how many rounds being fired, 40-120 plus comes to mind when shooting at suspects, if I remember the FBI stats on the subject.
My Rotti is 130 pounds, wife has him and I on a diet, and having put down dogs this size before, they don't stand still and allow you to hit them six times, as if on a range.
SOMETHING stinks with this whole story and if he was my POLICE chief, the case would not be closed until several questions were answered.
The next open Mayor's meeting could have two hundred people show up and ask about this shooting and demand answers with a little organization.
A lot of us love our dogs and the freedom to be safe at our homes, including the dogs, cats, and livestock...

[jdowney]

You ask me, cop pursues perp on private property takes his chances like any civilian on private property, case closed.... 'course there's a good reason they don't ask me :D

[Vagabond]

Wow, what a shame! And this big old Rotty was 10, that's pretty darn old for a big rotty, I could not imagine him to be that spry as to attack so quickly that the officer could not have retreated. To some people their pet are family members and should be respected as such.This dog was just doing his job and paid the price for being a good dog.

[RicePaddyDaddy]

Wow, what a shame! And this big old Rotty was 10, that's pretty darn old for a big rotty, I could not imagine him to be that spry as to attack so quickly that the officer could not have retreated. To some people their pet are family members and should be respected as such.This dog was just doing his job and paid the price for being a good dog.

There's no respect for a man's property line anymore.I've got crackheads and sex offenders and people I've never seen before walking up and down my street everyday just looking for something to steal to turn a fast buck with.My back yard is my sanctuary and my dogs are the gate keepers.To me they are gentle creatures,to anyone walking by they are silent observors.The police can not protect me,they come to do the paperwork and catch the offender,it is up to me to protect myself.A dog can not understand a person's reason for coming over a fence he only knows that person does not belong there so he defends our home and sometimes pays with his life.

[Global Gunsmithing]

I myself had a cop threaten to shoot one of my dogs, "if the dog starting coming toward him", on my own property!, i`m not the only one, a few more in my area have been threatened, seems that the cops around where I live have it in their mind that they will shoot you dog, on your property, if they feel threatened, even if the cop was not invited to your property

[LorDiego]

I believe this is an epidemic spreading around Police departments throughout the whole country. Its disgusting.

Just google "cop shoots dog", and the results will SHOCK you.

Friendly dogs getting shot.

15lbs dogs getting multiple shots.

And cops just laugh at it. Literally. :(

This, and the overall corruption found in all Police departments, is the reason why I no longer respect the badge & uniform, and why I have not donated to any kind of Police event/fund raiser in years.

[Buddymack]

This is sickening it is as if the police officers like this have the same agenda I saw at Waco, it seems to make a point always that we the people are powerless and how dare we even have a dog for protection, we never asked for this type of leadership or authority over our lives what makes Government officials think this arrogantly?

[Global Gunsmithing]

here is short example of what happend with a friend of mine and his GSD, Dayna the GSD is 3 years old, and extremely well trained, Wayne put as much time as I do into training


"Dayna and I had just returned from a quick round of obedience and she was laying in her open crate, in the back of my Ford Flex with the tailgate open, on my property...when the police officer pulled-up.

When the patrol car stopped, she gave it a lazy Woof, Woof, Woof from inside her crate. When the officer exited his vehicle, she exited her's....when the officer moved to the nearest end of his vehicle, she moved to the property line and gave him some pretty intense Woof, Woof, Woof action.

I approached and asked, "is there a problem?" He demanded I put the dog in the crate. I told Dayna, "crate", and she immediately stopped barking, turned, trotted over to her crate, and jumped-in. The officer then demanded I close the door of the crate, which I did.

I met he at the end of my driveway, and he told me about the complaint. I specifically asked if it was a neighbor complaining about noise, and it was not. What was conveyed to me was a person walking by felt threatened and phoned it in. I explained that she was not running wild in the neighborhood, and that even when he approached with presense and a gun, she still stayed within the parameter of my property. He said he felt threatened, and if I had not been present, and if he had been approaching the house when the dog approached, he would have, "pulled his weapon, and shot the dog".

[slackjaw]

I myself had a cop threaten to shoot one of my dogs, "if the dog starting coming toward him", on my own property!, i`m not the only one, a few more in my area have been threatened, seems that the cops around where I live have it in their mind that they will shoot you dog, on your property, if they feel threatened, even if the cop was not invited to your property
Same thing happened to me if they shot my 200 pound english mastif there will be hell 2 pay

[brewskzilla]

Dang... I'd be in the chief's office demanding some answers...

[Sturmvogel]

As I said; It's a nutty a$$ world...

[jef1911a1]

I hope I don't get banned for this, and I have friends who are leo, but there was no excuse for what that *** did. Do that to my dog, on my own land, it will really anger me. I have long ago lost all respect for police. You are a major part of the problem and don't even see it. Most of the laws you are ordered to enforce are so against the constitution and bill of rights, and far too many of you are in reality just bullies, backed up by your own "gang." Yes, I know every day you encounter the worst of society, but we are not all in that group. It seems to me that most of what you do these days is just find any means possible to confiscate money for the district you are in and turn a blind eye to the violent and predatory human debris that every of us see every day. Your priorities are wrong. There was once a time I aided in a major drug arrest, it started because these people almost broadsided my car while being chased by a number of marked cars. I won't explain the details, other than I was armed and helped the police that night. I WOULD NOT DO SO AGAIN. Because if I did, I would now be in more trouble than the &)$%#@ being chased, the way society is now. And they really almost killed me. Oh, I did not shoot any one or even fire one round, only was there first as a large number of police were in pursuit and I was able to stop the car that almost killed me. .

[waffendude]

i'm confused---isn't it like a captiol crime if you shoot a police dog??(just like shooting po)


but nothing if they shoot your dog ??
am i missing somthing here ? ?
waffen

[Buddymack]

i'm confused---isn't it like a captiol crime if you shoot a police dog??(just like shooting po)


but nothing if they shoot your dog ??
am i missing somthing here ? ?
waffen

That was one of my first concerns as I see them arresting people who can't afford to take proper care of dogs and treating poor folks like they are murderers and such, some of it understandably was abuse some of it simply is poverty.
But what about the citizens? why are we always secondary on justice? maybe we need to form a Union, oh that's right we already have.
We the people, in order to form a more perfect union, we shouldn't be we the sheeple :kookaid:, but we are .
In my opinion until people wake up and realize :sparta:
we are not being :America:
:icon_biggrin:

[RicePaddyDaddy]

That was one of my first concerns as I see them arresting people who can't afford to take proper care of dogs and treating poor folks like they are murderers and such, some of it understandably was abuse some of it simply is poverty.
But what about the citizens? why are we always secondary on justice? maybe we need to form a Union, oh that's right we already have.
We the people, in order to form a more perfect union, we shouldn't be we the sheeple :kookaid:, but we are .
In my opinion until people wake up and realize :sparta:
we are not being :America:
:icon_biggrin:

Poor and the elderly are the easies marks.No struggle or big time lawyer.

[Bad Monkey]

I think the article left a lot of holes and questions. I know my 11 year old German Shepard usually doesn't move as fast as he use to, but I've seen him move quick enough when a stranger approaches the house. If this dog was quick enough threatening the officer for jumping the fence, how did the suspect get by him? I may be wrong, but from the dogs I have and have had, you come running threw my neighborhood jumping fences(and I would imagine the po yelling stop) my dogs would at the fence line before you got there.

Only time I had an officer worried about my dog going for him, I got out of a speeding ticket. He didn't want me rolling the window down any more then a crack to talk to me. He never asked for my license or insurance.

[pidaster]

I'm getting pretty damn tired of all the cop bashings on various forums just because of one officers mistake. There are plenty of good cops out there but nobody cares to remember them. Only talk about the one they think is an a-hole. No respect for the law is why many of them stay irritated all day long.
Now, as for this incident, bad decision on the officers part. I didn't see in the article what the warrants were for. Could have been something major but you don't know do you? The officer probably didn't know there was a dog there or he wouldn't have jumped the fence. Go ahead and put yourself in his shoes, you're chasing a suspect and suddenly a very large dog is biting your leg. You might crap your pants and you probably want the fastest way out of the situation. Not all cops carry tasers or pepper spray. So you shoot the dog. Yes, the department can be sued now. I don't know any officers that just want to go around shooting peoples animals and I'd be very pissed if my dog was shot.
Give it a rest people. All of us complain when one person opens fire on a crowd with a semi-auto rifle and we all get labeled as nut jobs by the media. You're doing the same thing to another group.
Do I agree and defend all cops? Absolutely not. Rights are first.

[Planning]

a few years ago a friend of mine had a guy breaking in his house at night. the guy was prying open the sliding glass doors in the back of the house. my friend stuck a 44 mag in his face and the guy said to my friend "screw you" ( not his exact words) and took off running and jumped over the back fence. all my friend could hear was this guy yelling " holy crap" over and over, ( again not his exact words). my friend raised and trained dobermans and they were kept in the back section of his yard. he told the guy to not move and he would be ok. he called 911 and the police came. he moved the dogs to another area. they didn't want to put the guy in there police car, he had mess and wet his pants.

they had been after this guy for a while. they we real glad he had the dogs there. the next few month the police got there own police dogs.

ron

[mistersquiggles]

seems like more of a catch-22 to me..... the oficer has a certain amount of right to pursue the offendor..... through private backyards... but at the same time.... everybodys backyard is different....some have dogs, some have chickens... hell some have goats and llamas, but the point being that the officer has no idea what he will encounter in a citizens backyard, and it can have dire consequences as Planning has just pointed out..... the officer has a right to defend himself..... and he has the right to pursue a perpetrator through an anonymous backyard (at least in most states and ccounties) but wheres the justice for the homowner/landowner when his beloved pet is killed when its doing nothing more than what comes naturally?

[k98k792]

If I was a Cop,and I was chasing a criminal through a back yard,and I thought I was going to be attacked by a Rotty,I would of shot the dog also.I would feel bad about it,but I would do it.The Cop was doing his job,the dog was doing his job. The little S.O.B. running from the Cops is the one to blame.

This ain't Waco,this ain't a sweeping violation of the Constitution,it was a foot pursuit that turned out badly.

Come on people!

[rustypirate]

So what you are saying is that if I see some punk jump my fence and run through my back yard, and I grab my .45 and head out the back door, the cop that jumps over my fence and sees me running toward him with a gun in hand is justified in shooting me as well......

I beg to differ.




I understand that the cops have a tough job.

I understand that it is dangerous.

I understand that the dog cannot differentiate between the good guys and the bad guys.

but sometimes retreat is the better option than aggression, and if it is the difference between some bad guy making an escape and the shooting of an innocent (person or dog), then the protection of life and not just HUMAN life should ALWAYS be the priority.

I still feel that this is a case of a cop getting juiced up in the chase, and overreacting to the situation at hand.

I don't beleive that LEOs should be held to a superhuman standard, but if they pull crap like this, then they sould be raked over the coals for the mistake. Right now, they are not being held accountable for their excesses as they can always use the excuse of feeling "threatened".

While their job puts them in considerable danger, they sign up for it just like a soldier does. They have moved from protecting the rights and safety of the people, to violating every right you have if they feel that it protects THEIR safety. This is fundamentally wrong!

[Global Gunsmithing]

This ain't Waco,this ain't a sweeping violation of the Constitution,it was a foot pursuit that turned out badly.

Come on people!


yes, correct, but its beginning be to common, and thats wrong, there are 2 people i know besides myself, that have had their dogs threatened to be shot, by a cop, and there was no foot chase, no crime, nothing going on

[RicePaddyDaddy]

When you fence your yard in make it high enough to be LEO and offender proof,keep the gate locked,post the signs to keep your dog safe from the neighborhood.If you have to chain the dog don't get a dog........the only problem with this is some cities regulate how high your fence can be as mine does.They call it fortifying your home for some reason.So if all else fails get to know your police and let them know in a friendly way where you stand on things but that's drawing attention to you which may not be good,I guess it all depends on how you go about it.A lot of LEOs are ex military so MAYBE you can find some common ground with them.....

[rustypirate]

I'm getting pretty damn tired of all the cop bashings on various forums just because of one officers mistake. There are plenty of good cops out there but nobody cares to remember them. Only talk about the one they think is an a-hole. No respect for the law is why many of them stay irritated all day long.
Now, as for this incident, bad decision on the officers part. I didn't see in the article what the warrants were for. Could have been something major but you don't know do you? The officer probably didn't know there was a dog there or he wouldn't have jumped the fence. Go ahead and put yourself in his shoes, you're chasing a suspect and suddenly a very large dog is biting your leg. You might crap your pants and you probably want the fastest way out of the situation. Not all cops carry tasers or pepper spray. So you shoot the dog. Yes, the department can be sued now. I don't know any officers that just want to go around shooting peoples animals and I'd be very pissed if my dog was shot.
Give it a rest people. All of us complain when one person opens fire on a crowd with a semi-auto rifle and we all get labeled as nut jobs by the media. You're doing the same thing to another group.
Do I agree and defend all cops? Absolutely not. Rights are first.

I think you point would be more valid if the ones who make the mistakes are held accountable. Unfortunately all too often they are not. The Law Enforcement Agencies have adopted a practice of protecting their own in these situations and hiding behind the protection of the permission that they have given themselves to protect their own at all costs, including you and yours.

A recent example that I can cite was a shooting at a family home when a LEO ran the plate of a car that came back stolen. the cop followed the car to a residence and when two young males exited the vehicle, they were instructed to lie face down on the ground. The owner of the home came outside and identified the young males as his sons who lived at the residence. The property owner was immediately instructed to put his hands on his vehicle and submit to a search. by this time a second police officer had arrived. When the Lady of the house came outside to question what was going on, the second police officer physically pushed her against the garage door and began to search her. One of the young men on the ground took offence to the way that the officer was manhandling his mother and began to rise. The police officer searching the woman turned, drew his weapon and fired two shots into the unarmed youth. At this time all parties from the house and car were handcuffed and placed in the two police cars and an ambulance was called. The father and mother were not permitted to travel to the hospital and were instead taken to a police station house for formal statements.

The real kicker here is that the car was NOT stolen, the police officer had entered the WRONG TAG NUMBER.

This in itself was not a bad mistake, and anyone can make it, but the second officer arrived all jucied up on adrenalin, and got rough with the mother when she had the nerve to question what was going on, and then he shot an unarmed innocent civilian.

The officer was cleared of all charges as he "thought the young man was reacing for a gun".

No such gun was ever found.

I could go on and on with other examples. I know several people that now keep video cameras in their cars just in case they get pulled over so that they have an independent video record of the incident.

This goes beyond LEOs having a tough job to do.

Also I would like to state that if the Law Enforcement Agencies can determan that a police dog is equalivent to a human officer and that is the standard, then I put forth that a civilian dog is equivalent to a human civilian and that is the standard.

[k98k792]

So what you are saying is that if I see some punk jump my fence and run through my back yard, and I grab my .45 and head out the back door, the cop that jumps over my fence and sees me running toward him with a gun in hand is justified in shooting me as well......

I beg to differ.




I understand that the cops have a tough job.

I understand that it is dangerous.

I understand that the dog cannot differentiate between the good guys and the bad guys.

but sometimes retreat is the better option than aggression, and if it is the difference between some bad guy making an escape and the shooting of an innocent (person or dog), then the protection of life and not just HUMAN life should ALWAYS be the priority.

I still feel that this is a case of a cop getting juiced up in the chase, and overreacting to the situation at hand.

I don't beleive that LEOs should be held to a superhuman standard, but if they pull crap like this, then they sould be raked over the coals for the mistake. Right now, they are not being held accountable for their excesses as they can always use the excuse of feeling "threatened".

While their job puts them in considerable danger, they sign up for it just like a soldier does. They have moved from protecting the rights and safety of the people, to violating every right you have if they feel that it protects THEIR safety. This is fundamentally wrong!

I don't see where I said that at all,that is completely a fabrication of your imagination.

[M1 Tanker]

......Militaryfirearm.com.........Militaryfirearm. com............Militaryfirearm.com..........that is all. :)

[rustypirate]

I don't see where I said that at all,that is completely a fabrication of your imagination.

You are right, that is pushing the situation completely out of context.

However I still feel that the cops are getting far too eager to pull their trigger before trying other alternatives, and are not being held accountable for it.

[Buddymack]

I have witnessed both sides of the story, my honest approach at this is people who are not victimized by either usually stand up for one side or the other, I choose to keep them both in check, I don't want a cop thinking he can shoot my dog just because he is chasing a purp through my yard that is no necessarily violent or dangerous, I also think you as a citizen need to respect the laws "within constitutional direction" and that when it comes to violent criminals we need to be on the Polices side whenever respectfully possible.
I have been a crime victim and I know what its like when both sides are out of hand, the criminal justice system fails quite often and I see the polices frustration.
But I also see police killing innocent bystanders in high speed chases over things like expired plates.
I think keeping our criminals and our justice system in check is the answer, if we learn anything from Nazi Germany and other stories of history let us learn from History or we are doomed to repeat it.

[LorDiego]

"When the police break the laws. There are no longer laws. Just a fight for survival."

Not sure where I heard this quote.. but it kind of stayed with me.