http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/27863147/detail.html

Again I have to say this is all too often occurrence.


EDIT: It's 2011 news but I hadn't seen it when discussing the Cisco incident.

This story sickens me. I can't believe how quick officers are to shoot and kill an innocent animal.

My feelings are you should not be in the field if you are afraid of ANYTHING: animals, people, cars, etc. Doesn't matter. You shouldn't be in the field unless you are equipped to handle it.

Please remember that we don't see the situations where dogs were handled properly. Truly... this shouldn't be happening, but just because it is, that doesn't mean there's this crazy problem. I'm sure officers come into contact with animals thousands of times a day and do just fine and we don't hear about it.

This is just more and more evidence of how important it is to keep dogs on a leash or confined. Obviously it truly doesn't matter how well trained they are because this is just one of those weird unexpected situations where a pet can wind up injured or dead. Your dog may be great off leash, but to someone else they can be perceived as a "threat."

It's a very sad situation, and I wish people in the field who come into contact with animals would be trained to better handle situations such as this, unfortunately that isn't something we can control. What we can control is how we handle our pets and keeping them on a leash or confined. All of these stories have the same thing in common: the dogs are loose.

I'm with Kristina - keep your pets on leash. If the police come, tell them you'll leash up your pet prior to admitting them.

This apparently happens all the time in LA, I was at the shelter the other week picking up a dog for the rescue and the people in front of me told the front desk "Hi - we're here to pick up our dog that the police shot". Apparently they shattered his jaw and the attendants advised them to get an attorney - which they apparently already did. I didn't hear the rest of the circumstances but it sounded like it could have been avoided with 1. dog on leash 2. police officer patience.

Also, last week at the shelter, I overhead them say "DOA on it's way" and gathered from the conversation that the AC officer had to shoot a dog that was consistently terrorizing the neighborhood off leash. It's sad, not the dog's fault and owners need to be extra vigilant to keep their pets safe...

There should just be a big thread about these, I saw 2 more today also on FB.

Where I used to live, if your dog was outside a completely closed fenced yard, your dog MUST be on a leash. Due to gate being closed- you didn't have to, but if the door was open to where the dog could get out..the leash had to be put on. We didn't have trigger happy law enforcement though

I agree dogs should always be leashed and that this situation could have easily been avoided by keeping your dog on a leash, but really? A dog walks towards you, you get fearful, and shoot it? I have been bit by dogs and full on attacked by dogs and never have thought about shooting them, and I am 123lbs and 5'3". I've TASERED a dog. But not shot. And in AZ I had a weapon on me whenever I walked and I do here as well if I go at night alone, but I would never pull it on a dog unless it was going psycho on my dogs.

Almost every story is cause they were not secured... People don't get the sh*t happens and it doesn't matter about your "perfect recall" a million things can happen that can end up with your dog in the ground. Especially since their training is basically shoot and kill a dog if you feel threatened, aka if you feel like it.

I used to have a dog that scared everything and everyone till they got to know her, but my foster molly GSD found a great home and I carry when I walk the girls but not for other dogs- idiot people. I had a guy follow Cali and I for a half mile. It is always sad and annoying to hear about any dog getting shot and worsened when its a law enforcement shooting a family pet on family property.

brady.law wrote:

Especially since their training is basically shoot and kill a dog if you feel threatened, aka if you feel like it.

I'm interested to hear more about this training technique you speak of.

I asked both my brothers who are cops and they say if they feel threatened and the dog is loose you can shoot it... Obviously why nothing ever happens with all these cases of dogs being shot by police... If they want to shoot it and they say "oh it was aggressive" (whether true of not, that's what they will say obviously) then that's all there is to it. Since there is no training on handling dogs in the field, expect for if you feel its necessary to shoot it, you can.

I see. Still think the phrasing "feel like it" is a bit much. Personally I don't see this sub culture of people wanting to shoot dogs and getting a job as a cop to do it. But unionization does weird things to folks so what do I know?

I don't think they want to.. But I feel like even if the dog isn't aggressive, they shoot it out of fear or whatever. Honestly a lot of cops while in the field don't care about dogs, its like stepping on an ant to them... its "just a dog."

Which is why its unfortunate but futile for these people to be seeking justice for their dogs against officers unless there is hardcore evidence like a video showing the officer shooting a dog that's just standing their which there isn't. If nobody saw how it went down then they are SOL just because "their dog would never hurt a fly" isn't going to hold up in court if they choose to take it that far.

Brady... did you read the article? There were neighbors that were witnesses in this particular case. The sad part is that it's become okay to "just shoot" and hide behind the "oh it was aggressive, I'm allowed to."

Don't get me wrong... I don't think there's this widespread panic of cops shooting dogs. I think there are just a few cops out there who are afraid and hide behind their guns because the force doesn't train them.

The issue is that people aren't held accountable in ANY situation and the ONLY thing injured/wronged is the dog. The owner isn't held accountable for not restraining their dog and the police aren't held accountable for wrecklessly discharging their weapon. So who suffers?

Then my perspective is skewed beyond reasoning. I've been harassed by many an off leash aggressive dog. When I'm out with my pack, every other dog is in fact, "just a dog". I have no care for the well being of something charging me or threatening my possessions.


*For the record I still haven't looked at what this thread is about. Getting sick of them myself.*

Yea I read they witnessed but I highly doubt it would even effect the outcome even if it went to court... Like I said dogs are just dogs to police and to the department, hence the lack of training and "shoot if you feel threatened" training they practice...

I don't think the issue is a charging dog... because I think all of us agree that a dog that is threatening is fair game to do what needs to be done to protect your own.

What is frustrating is that most people don't understand what "threatening" actually looks like.

And Brady, I really don't think that's fair to say. I know many officers who are pet and animal lovers and who care.... be careful of making statements like that.

harrise wrote:

Then my perspective is skewed beyond reasoning. I've been harassed by many an off leash aggressive dog. When I'm out with my pack, every other dog is in fact, "just a dog". I have no care for the well being of something charging me or threatening my possessions.


*For the record I still haven't looked at what this thread is about. Getting sick of them myself.*

I agree with protecting yourself or your pack with deadly force if the dog is in fact aggressive... All these stories though supposedly are of dogs walking up to officers and being shot without even waiting to see if they are aggressive... Which is why I think a lot of officers shoot them, they don't care to even take the chance that the dog is nice or not... They just shoot it and say "well it was of fits leash and I felt threatened." So they get away with it, even if the dog was in fact just saying hello.

Not all pet dogs have the socialization to properly display aggression in the way laymen are accustomed to. Seriously, how much can we demand from these people?

Koda wrote:

And Brady, I really don't think that's fair to say. I know many officers who are pet and animal lovers and who care.... be careful of making statements like that.

I don't mean to say they ALL don't I am saying when they are IN the field it their mentality can be different, both my brothers like dogs and both have owned dogs of their own, but a strangers dog, if at any point they feel threatened and it was off lead, they would shoot it. Because its not worth being bitten to them.

I do think their shouldn't be a casual decision in shooting a dog because it's unpredictable in the officers eyes. However, even if they stepped up training involving the handling of dogs when they are called to a residence, I believe there will be times when an officer will have to shoot first. The only reason I say this is because think of all the unpredictable situations officers are in. There are just some situations that an officer can not afford to be distracted. Think of how many crazy people they have to deal with and one distraction could cause them their life. I know the story posted is not one of these situations but they do put their life on the line for us everyday they go to work.

http://www.aol.com/video/family-dog-shot-and-killed-after-police-respond-to-the-wrong-house/517381204/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cvideo-module%7Csec3_lnk1%7C164940

this just seems to be getting out of control. thats not even a scary looking dog....