Monday, 8 September 2014

WHY ARE POLICE SHOOTING SO MANY FAMILY DOGS? Cops take heartbreaking action 'every 98 minutes'

WHY ARE POLICE SHOOTING SO MANY FAMILY DOGS?

Cops take heartbreaking action 'every 98 minutes'

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Hawthorne, California, police shoot dead a rottweiler dog.
Hawthorne, California, police shoot dead a Rottweiler dog.
A rash of animal shootings by police officers nationwide has law-enforcement agencies running for cover amid growing public outrage that could force state legislatures to require greater accountability from men and women in uniform.
Police in Utah shot a family’s dog while searching for a lost boy, prompting hundreds of pet owners to protest June 28 in front of the Salt Lake City Police Department headquarters. They carried signs demanding “justice for Geist,” a 110-pound Weimaraner shot by a city cop within the dog’s fenced-in back yard. The “missing” boy was later found sleeping in his home.
Watch video of the man whose dog, Geist, was killed by Salt Lake City Police:
State police in West Virginia shot a family’s dog June 24 as it was reportedly running away from them during a search for a suspect on adjoining property. Shots rang out even as the dog’s owner was screaming for officers to hold their fire and let her put her dog inside.
In Maryland, two Baltimore police officers were charged last week with animal cruelty after one of them allegedly held down Nala, a 7-year-old Shar-Pei, while the other slit the dog’s throat.
Richard Bruce Rosenthal, general counsel and co-founder of New York-based the Lexus Project, said police across the country are trending toward less tolerance and less respect for people’s pets, which he sees as part of a larger trend toward more aggressive policing tactics in America.
A pet is a person’s property, which should not be summarily executed for doing what dogs naturally do, which is to investigate unknown people or other dogs who approach their territory, he asserted.
“It is a growing problem and part of it is, post 9/11, our judicial system has basically trashed the Constitution under the mantle of security, and personal rights cease to exist,” Rosenthal told WND.
“All over the country we have cops shooting dogs for no other reason than they can. And our courts and our elected officials, rather than protecting the citizens and the Constitution, simply see it as a way to take more power and more money. I think it’s a civil-rights violation. I think it’s a constitutional violation.”
Willy Pete
The West Virginia incident happened June 24 in a rural area of Mason County. A paramilitary unit scoured the woods bordering the property of 32-year-old Ginger Sweat. Her dog, a 6-year-old beagle-basset hound named Willy Pete, woke up from an afternoon snooze on his porch to the sound of eight officers coming out of the adjacent woods. Willy Pete scampered off to investigate. Sweat, who was putting one of her two young children down for a nap, looked out the window and saw an officer with a police dog on a leash emerge from the woods and ran out outside pleading with the officers not to shoot her dog, begging them to let her bring it inside.
Willy Pete
Willy Pete
The officer shot once, missing Willy Pete but sending the dog, which had arthritis in its back legs, running back toward Sweat, she told the Charleston Daily Mail. Three more shots were fired in the dog’s direction, toward Sweat and the home where her two children were sleeping, Sweat told the local newspaper. Willy Pete was hit three times and fell dead in a pool of blood behind her mobile home.
The West Virginia State Police released a detailed statement late Monday night apologizing to the Sweat family but providing a conflicting version of what led up to the shooting of their dog. From the agency’s perspective, Willy Pete was given a chance to back off but “growled and bared his teeth” at the officers. That’s when Sgt. S.T. Harper, a 14-year veteran of the force, shot him, said spokesman Lt. Michael Baylous.
Baylous previously told WND that anytime an officer discharges his weapon, the incident comes under routine investigation.
He could not say how many times the department’s officers have shot and killed someone’s pet over the past year.
“It’s so rare; I can’t think of the last time it happened,” Baylous said. “I have no knowledge of what is happening nationwide, but it’s not a regular occurrence with the West Virginia State Police. We shoot far less animals than we do people who are a threat.”
But State House Delegate Mike Manypenny, D-Taylor, said he believes it would be a mistake to view the killing of Willy Pete as an isolated incident in West Virginia. He said it happens more often than most people realize, but most cases go unreported in the media. He’s launched an investigation and is pushing for new rules that would hold officers accountable. He sent an email to the State Police seeking more information on the June 24 incident in Mason County.
If he doesn’t get the answers he is seeking, Manypenny said he’s prepared to take the next step.
“I hope we can get some answers because we do need to find out what happened so we can make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Manypenny told WND. “I’m asking them to introduce a rule on nonlethal methods that can be used against domesticated animals, and if they won’t do it voluntarily, we need the legislature to require them to introduce a rule for nonlethal action.”
Manypenny said he believes that if the story told by the Sweat family is accurate, the police overreacted.
“I don’t know how far we’d want to go to put provisions in the law requiring unpaid leave or dismissal of an officer if they’re found to put people’s pets in endangerment, but yeah, I think it was totally uncalled for,” he sad. “But I want to call for an investigation rather than just shoot from the hip when we don’t have all of the details of what went on. So far, I’ve put in an email requesting some more transparency from the police.”
Police shot a dog in front of its owner in Hawthorne, California, because they didn’t like the owner recording them:
WND asked for a copy of the standard operating procedures outlining the rules of engagement that West Virginia State Police use when encountering pets.
Baylous said he could not provide SOPs, because the department considers that to be confidential information.
“I don’t think they have one,” Manypenny said when told of WND’s request. “A lot of law enforcement doesn’t feel they need it. From the stories I’ve seen in the newspapers, and on social media, it shouldn’t be happening this much, and I think it’s a wakeup call to the citizens of this state, because I think 90 percent of West Virginians have pets. When they’re made aware of what’s going on they become outraged, and it’s my job to make sure justice is served and we have the proper laws in place to protect their pets.”
Manypenny said he will take his investigation to the next level if the police don’t cooperate with his request for details on what happened the afternoon of June 24 in Mason County.
“I’m going to have to call on other legislators to work with me on a combined letter demanding it,” he said. “Unless they are forthright and give the information without being required to, I think we’re going to have to get a letter from several lawmakers. Our letter will probably go to the governor because he’s their boss.
“There are so many non-lethal ways they could have dealt with this dog. Pepper spray, or simply yelling at it, probably would have made him run away.”
According to the Sweat family, their dog was already running away when it was shot three times, but right now Manypenny just wants to get both sides of the story.
‘Every 98 minutes’
No government agency keeps a national database on the number of pets killed by police. But animal-abuse activists have kept statistics, and they say a pet is killed by law enforcement every 98 minutes in America. They say it is largely a result of officers having little-to-no training on how to deal with dogs.
And if they will shoot a person’s pet without hesitating, that should make people concerned for their own safety, Rosenthal said.
“It’s a travesty that’s going on all over the country, and the more it happens the more our police feel emboldened to pull their guns and shoot first,” Rosenthal said.
“Is that supposed to make us feel safe? Government and police have gotten to the point where they cease to serve the citizens and believe everyone is here for their convenience. Between the civil-asset forfeiture laws, which have now become big business for police departments, and the civil rights violations in just so many different areas, it’s become really a problem. We are developing an American Gestapo.”
Rosenthal said when police conduct searches, they don’t make plans for the presence of a dog, they simply assume all dogs are dangerous and shoot them.
“Whenever and wherever this happens, people are horrified at the reckless use of police power, but basically (police) ignore it in the name of security,” Rosenthal said. “The only way it’s going to be reformed is if more and more people get lawyers and litigate. And people need to petition their state legislature to make them responsible. If pet owners would band together and say ‘we’re going to vote them out of office unless they start protecting us,’ things would change.”
An online petition at Change.org had gathered 4,442 signatures as of June 30 seeking changes in state laws in the wake of Willy Pete’s execution in West Virginia.
“Please continue to share this Petition. I have been sending it to President Obama, Governor Jerry Brown, My State Legislator, Senator Barbara Boxer, & Senator Dianne Feinstein,” wrote petition organizer Patty Jackson of Downey, California. “I have also been writing them on a daily basis, asking for police to be trained all across the United States …you can help me in this fight by contacting your State Legislator and asking them to create a bill similar to Bill SB13-226 that was signed into law on 5/13/13 by the Governor of Colorado, it’s called ‘The Dog Protection Act.”
Downey said she’s heard a lot of politicians make speeches “asking the citizens of the USA to turn in their guns.”
“It is now time for the police to turn in their guns in exchange for a can of Mace, whenever they encounter what they would call an aggressive pet,” she said. “… It is time for zero tolerance against this escalating animal abuse in this country.”
The West Virginia State Police Facebook page also lit up with hundreds of critical comments after the killing of Willy Pete. Many were being deleted, a department spokesman admitted.
“They have numerous other pages available on FB to spew their hatred of Law Enforcement without posting to ours. Please assist us in maintaining a professional image by not responding to their vitriol,” the State Police posted on its Facebook site on June 28.
Col. Jay Smithers’ statement on the West Virginia State Police website says: “Our agency was created in 1919 and is the fourth oldest state police agency in the United States. Our sworn members have proudly served the citizens of the state with honor, bravery, and professionalism for more than 90 years.”
The bravery and professionalism of executing someone’s pet on first sight is exactly what’s being called into question following incidents like the one in Mason County.
Rosenthal said petitions and social media are useful tools, but the power of the ballot box may be the only language many politicians understand.
“Unfortunately we’ve developed a governing class of professional politicians, which was one of the biggest ills the Founding Fathers warned against,” he said. “Our politicians have no relationship to the populations they serve. But in due course it’s going to be litigated, and if it gets litigated enough, they will have to come up with a theory that courts have to accept. Unfortunately, our federal judges are more intent on getting rid of cases than on enforcing the law. They want to clear their calendars, and justice or following the law takes a back seat.”
WND has reported several cases of police shooting pets in recent years, including an incident Feb. 8 in which an officer in Filer, Idaho, was captured on video killing two Labradors.
Rosenthal said he and his wife are forming a new organization called the Voice for Animals, a nonprofit that will take on and litigate some of the most egregious animal shootings.
“To the extent we are able to find local counsel we are open to going after some of these police departments,” he said.
Recently reported police dog-shootings:

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/police-take-horrific-action-every-98-minutes/#tIRq48scwWtAzoRo.99
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Dogs Shot by Cops: Companion Animals and Law Enforcement

Dogs Shot by Cops: Companion Animals and Law Enforcement

When a police officer kills someone’s companion animal, it deeply affects the animal’s human family, as well as the officer, the neighborhood, and the community. This sad situation is all too common and ALDF fields many calls asking for advice. Unfortunately, there is rarely a clear path to justice.
bulletWatch ALDF’s interview with Captain Scott Sargent of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Let’s start with the law. Companion animals are treated by the courts as personal “property.” When an animal is harmed, a lawsuit must show damage to the owner.Incredibly, civil lawsuits must demonstrate violation of the owner’s constitutional rights (known as a Section 1983 case). In tort cases, damages may be measured by the “market value” or purchase price of the animal, regardless of the egregious harm done to the animals and the emotional damage done to their human companions.
States including Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, Tennessee, Texas and New York have demonstrated openness to cases that request relief beyond an animal’s market value. Emotional distress of the owner, loss of companionship, and intrinsic value may be considered in some cases. In Texas, the State Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case filed for “sentimental value” of a companion animal. Similarly, a Tennessee statute allows suits for emotional distress damages due to the wrongful death of a companion animal; Tennessee’s General Patton Act, as a result of the infamous Smoak’s case, mandates training in animal behavior for law enforcement officers.

Why would an officer shoot a dog?

cop shot dog
(Photo by Jamie Manley)
Perceived Threat – The main reason an officer makes the decision to shoot an animal is due to a perceived threat from that animal. People can protect their dogs by protecting officers. Follow all leash laws, and keep dogs away from law enforcement during neighborhood searches and 9-1-1 calls.
Actual Threat – Some animals have been bred and trained as weapons by their handlers and/or have been amidst an attack on a person or animal when the officer discharges his weapon.
Unleashed dog – An unleashed dog is a common factor in these tragedies, whether at play or being protective. Keep your dog out of harm’s way to reduce the heartbreak for everyone.
Wrong Address – When officers respond to a domestic disturbance, the tense situation creates the opportunity for errors. In some cases an officer may have the wrong address. Although it is difficult for people in their home to avoid these situations, keeping dogs away from strangers can help.
Miscommunication – In many cases, an officer may shoot a dog in a victim’s home, even while responding to a call from that victim. These instances justify better training and clarity on use of force procedure for all involved. Citizens would be wise to crate animals after putting in any call to the police.
Protective Dog – Sometimes an owner’s companion animal may simply be barking or acting protectively, as they are inclined to do when they perceive threat. Again, this is an area which demands better officer training and non-lethal conflict resolution in working with animals.
Dangerous Breed – Sometimes dogs are killed because they appear to be of a dangerous breed. If your dog is perceived as a dangerous breed, such as a Pit bull or Rottweiler, the risk factor to officers and your dog increases exponentially. Take extra precaution to properly restrain and crate your animal.
Poor Planning - Internal planning, prior to execution of search warrants, must include non-lethal conflict resolution with any animals that may be encountered on the property.

What You Can Do

cop shot dog, not when dog is on leash
Dogs on leash are safer than dogs running free. (Photo by Put That Down)
If your dog has been injured or killed, state laws can determine whether the killing of the animal was legally justified. In federal court, constitutional issues may arise regarding a deprivation of rights claim. An issue called “qualified immunity” may also factor into liability for the shooting.
  • Contact a legal representative
  • Collect evidence
    • If possible, before moving your dog, take photographs in the exact position of injury.
    • Take your dog to a veterinarian to measure damages and/or perform a “necropsy.”
    • Get names, addresses and telephone numbers of any witnesses to the incident.
    • If time permits, obtain statements from witnesses about what they saw.
  • Contact law enforcement
    • If the officer has discharged their weapon there will most likely be an investigation.
  • Check state and federal laws
    • Fourth Amendment laws prohibit unlawful seizure of personal property–even if the officer was acting according to a warrant.
    • State provisions, however, may justify the officer’s behavior. Some states allow the shooting of unleashed or unlicensed animals, dangerous animals, and animals in capture–even on personal property.
  • Determine liability
    • It is extremely difficult to sue an agency, as they will generally qualify for immunity. Exceptions may come when the policy supported by the agency is questionable regarding an individual’s constitutional rights.
    • It is possible to defeat an officer’s qualified immunity if that officer has knowingly violated an individual’s constitutional rights. In some cases, qualified immunity is overridden by a citizen’s right to be safe & secure on their own property. The facts in individual cases will determine whether the officer acted unreasonably, and whether that officer knowingly violated a companion animal’s owner’s rights.

Protecting Your Pup

  • Crate your dog before contacting law enforcement or if law enforcement is in the area.
  • Keep your dog away from law enforcement during times of strife (such as a 9-1-1 call).
  • Securely fix all fences, gates, and screens to prevent your dog from escaping. Overly protective dogs have often escaped through screens, gates, or holes in fences.
  • Do not let your dog roam unleashed.
  • Do not leave your dog outside unattended.

Steps Law Enforcement Can Take

  • Provide improved training to officers about non-lethal options for handling dogs and understanding dog behavior.
  • Use alternative equipment such as: catch-poles, nets, batons, Tasers. In fact, a powder based (rather than CO2) fire extinguisher is an excellent non-lethal alternative to a gun.
  • Contact animal control before proceeding into a situation with an unleashed dog.
  • Reduce cases of wrong addresses and miscommunication–between officers, homeowners, and animal control.
  • Use interagency communication to establish protocol and procedure.
  • Avoid entering private property without warning residents unless necessary.
  • Establish clear departmental procedures with a scale of options to exhaust before discharging a weapon–procedures that reduce or eliminate the automatic shooting of an animal as a response to tense situations.
  • Improve leadership, and internal and external follow-up, on deadly force incidents.
  • Reduce officer fear and improve officer confidence and animal-handling reactions.
  • Provide officers with training in humane use of force to put an animal down with the least amount of suffering possible when lethal force absolutely must be used.
  • Demand that their state’s police training academy provide training to new officers on all non-lethal options in assessing canine behavior and dealing with pets while on duty.

Additional Resources


For more information, please see ALDF’s resources: Wrongful Death or Injury of an Animal guide, Damages for Death or Injury of an Animal, and our resource on coping with Grief and Mourning.
http://aldf.org/resources/when-your-companion-animal-has-been-harmed/dogs-shot-by-cops-companion-animals-and-law-enforcement/
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COPS HAVE KILLED ALL THESE DOGS AND MORE.......

COPS HAVE KILLED ALL THESE DOGS AND MORE.......
hatdog
This one I heard about in a private email. According to to Megan Hood, she first heard of the death of her beloved Blossom through a phone call from a man at Jonesboro City Hall. He told her that her dog had been hit by a car, and that the Texas Department of Transportation had incinerated the body.
Later, she received a phone call from a private investigator, who told her that her dog had not been hit by a car, but had been shot by the Jonestown Police Department.
“Above playing, dancing, eating, hiking, and cuddling, she loved everything with her small, yet beautiful heart. However, she had the appearance of a Coyote, which the officers found a threat, and reason to murder her.”
This happened on September 6, 2013.
Posted: August 6, 2014 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
geist
Cops were responding to a missing child report when they entered the yard of Sean Kendall and shot his Weimaraner.
The missing child was later found sleeping inside his home.
The owner of the dog, Sean Kendall, drove to his home and confronted the cop about killing his dog. Be careful watching this video, it is brutal. “So I get to bury my dog because an officer couldn’t back up and close the fucking gate,” he asks. And a protest was organized, “Justice for Geist”: 
The local police chief — of course — defends the officer’s actions. “I haven’t seen this type of public outcry when certain human beings have lost their lives,” he said. The dog — he argued — was simply too close to the officer: never mind that the officer entered the backyard without the permission of the owner.
“Something’s got to change,” Kendall said. “It’s running rampant.”  He’s right. It is. You can sign a petition to demand that the officer be held accountable for his actions and that all officers be trained to deal with dogs. But the problem isn’t just that cops don’t understand how to deal with dogs: this is just one manifestation of American police overreach.

Dog”

Posted: February 10, 2013 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
Image
Kelsey Markou was walking her family dog, named Dog, when a pitbull attacked. She tried to get the pitbull off of Dog, and a man walking by called the police.
When the pollice officer arrived, Kelsey told the officer which dog was hers and which was the one who attacked. Kelsey’s mother describes what happened next:
“He got 5 to 6 feet away from the dogs and just started shooting at them.”
Kelsey estimated the police officer fired eight shots. The pitbull was taken to the vet. Dog was dead at the scene.
Kelsey’s mom explained:
“I want them to be accountable and really look at the way the situation was handled. We’re traumatized, and I have a daughter that’s going to be traumatized the rest of her life. She’ll never forget it. She hasn’t been sleeping. That’s a hard pill to swallow.”
SOURCE: News Gazette
Posted: February 9, 2013 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment
“After the first shot, the dog is captured by the animal control officer on the catch pole. But, after it is captured, a police officer fires four more shots at Chloe, killing the dog.” I don’t need to describe much more because it’s all on video.
However, in an unbelievable turn of events, the officer who killed this particular dog is actually being tried for a crime! He faces charges for animal cruelty. Why? Because of the video included above. The police department had initially avoided any responsibility. However, once this video was posted to the Internet, people reacted in shock.
“This video came out and changed things,” said Animal Lew Center lawyer Jennifer Edwards. She says that this case is a “turning point in animal law.”
SOURCE: 9news, 9news, Denver Post

Unnamed Dog Stomped to Death

Posted: February 9, 2013 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment
I couldn’t find a photo for this pooch, but this has got to be the worst story I’ve heard yet. I am going to just except the first three paragraphs of the LA Times article about it, because I don’t think I have the strength to write about it myself:
In a case that has shocked Arizona animal activists, prosecutors have decided not to charge a Flagstaff police officer who in a gruesome incident this summer used his baton, boot and a cable to kill an injured dog after a fellow officer accidentally hit the animal with his car.
In August, Cpl. John Tewes was called after another officer hit a loose dog with his car about 2:30 a.m. Tewes and the other officer decided the dog needed to be euthanized, but Tewes was concerned about using his gun in the neighborhood.
Prosecutors said Tewes repeatedly tried to bludgeon the dog to death, but it didn’t die. He then tried to jump on the dog’s head and cave in its skull, but that too failed to kill the animal. Eventually, after some 20 to 30 minutes of trying to kill the dog, Tewes used a hobble, which is like a metal cable, to try to strangle the dog. It took several tries before the dog died.
The officer later resigned. I think this is going to have to be my last update today. Simply too depressing to continue reading about this. Please share this, and other articles, with friends and family. This will help affect change, and hopefully stuff like this will stop happening, or at least stop happening as often.
SOURCE: LATimes, AZFamily
Posted: February 9, 2013 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
Scout

Neighbor Lori Walmsley saw everything: she called her neighbor’s dog, Scout, over to play, and then Scout ran back into his own yard. A police officer showed up. He asked if the dog was hers. “No,” she said, but she assured him Scout wasn’t dangerous.
The officer began to try and catch the dog, whistling and saying, “Come here, pup.” He eventually cornered the dog. That’s when Walmsley heard the shots. The dog’s owner ran out and screamed, “What are you doing? He’s just a puppy!”
Lori says that the officer was not provoked.
The officer tells a different story. This is how he depicts the shooting in his own report:
At this time, I whistled at the dog and said “Come here pup” and the dog jumped off the deck and ran at me. I began backing away as fast as I could in a backward direction. I immediately noticed the dog was showing its teeth and I could hear the dog growling very loudly. I kicked at the dor in an attempt to put space between me and the dog and to get it to stop coming at me. I missed my first kick however the dog tried to bite my leg as I kicked it. I repeated this again kicking at the dog and again the dog tried to bite me. At this point the dog was within three feet of me and I was running in a backwards circular motion so as not to turn my back on the dog. At this time I pulled my service weapon and rapidly fired seven shots while backing away from the dog as quickly as I could. I believe I missed most of my shots, due to shooting while backing away however I did hit the dog at least twice. One shot in the back legs and once possibly in the mouth. The dog was no longer a threat to me and I holstered my weapon.
[The owner] came out of the residence and was screaming at me “You shot my fucking dog, good job mother fucker you did your job.”
I don’t understand this logic: antagonize and corner animals until they show aggression, attack the dog and further provoke it, and then — having exhausted all other options (except closing the gate or leaving or asking the owners or witnesses present for assistance) — executing the animal.
The existence of dog-murdering protocol allows this to continue, and allows officers to feel that such behavior is morally permissible. Please share this story to show them that it isn’t.

Luke

Posted: February 9, 2013 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
lukeResponding to an accidental alarm, a police officer entered a home through an “unsecured door” (which, to me, sounds like he entered without permission). The officer claims that the dog charged at him, barking, and that — fearing for his life — he had to shoot the dog multiple times. Just had to.To defend this behavior, the police claimed that the owner’s sister alleged that the dog had bitten her in the past.
However, she told reporters, “I never claimed Luke bit me, cause Luke has never bit me.”
Cobb Police say that the officer followed policy and procedure and that their investigation is closed.
This follows the Threefold Pattern: (1) No legitimate reason for police officers to be present, (2) Claims which contradict witness testimony, and (3) Department claiming everything was done according to protocol. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the magic formula which allows you to murder a dog without consequence.
SOURCE: 11Alive.com
smokey
“[Jason Robershaw] heard a knock at the back door of his residence, followed by a bark, then finally a gunshot.” When he ran outside, he found an officer standing over Smokey, who was bleeding out of his mouth.
Robershaw said, “The officer had no right to come on my private property and shoot my dog, which was on a leash. The dog was doing what it’s supposed to do. It is the protector of this house. He was my best friend, so I don’t want this to go away quietly.”
The police officer was there to investigate a stolen ladder.
He had come to the wrong address.
SOURCE: Examiner.com
Posted: February 9, 2013 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
ImagePolice were supposed to go to the 4900 block of Norma Street to investigate “copper thefts,” but they instead went to the 4700 block. Lily Girl came out of the garage to greet him.
The officer drew his gun and shot her down.
I don’t understand how, when I order delivery, it always arrives at my home, and not at some random strangers home on another block. How is it possible to be so bad at driving to an address?
SOURCE: NBCDFW.com
Posted: February 9, 2013 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
Image
An officer approached a man’s house to ask about “a car parked nearby with a license plate registered to a woman wanted on an arrest warrant.”
Kenny Schoff came outside with his dog, Rosco, to speak with the oficer. When Rosco began to bark, the officer immediately drew his gun and fired three shots.
In total, the puppy was shot six times: three on the porch, twice on the porch steps, and once in the head after the family asked he be put out of misery.
The officer said that the dog was attempting to bite him, and that, after he shot him three times, the dog continued to attack. This is why it required six bullets to kill a ten-month old dog.
As always: “The police department has cleared the officer of any wrongdoing, claiming he had no other option but to protect himself.”
Source: WNDU.com
Posted: February 8, 2013 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
tank
Police burst into James Woods’ house looking for marijuana. He heard a shotgun blast, and Tank (pictured above) “lay dead in a puddle of blood.”
Then they saw the other dogs. They raised their weapons. Woods screamed, “Please! They won’t hurt you.”
“Witnesses told a consistent story: Police chased the dogs, Hump and Janey, around the house, shooting Woods’ longtime companions as they fled.” Janey (not pictured) dragged a trail of blood around the house until she finally collapsed. Police had shot her as she ran away.
Neighbors said the dogs were “tame and friendly.” Police did not respond for comment.
Woods’ friend, Scott Kraz, “photographed the carcasses in hopes of proving that police shot the dogs from behind.” After doing this, he buried in the dogs in Woods’ front yard. Woods now lives alone.
“They killed my dogs,” he says. “The Detroit Police Department murdered my dogs.”
When will somebody do something? Please share this story. Help get the word out.
hump

Billy

Posted: February 8, 2013 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
policedog
Police dog Billy, a Belgian Malinois, and his handler responded to a burglary call. In the excitement, Billy bit another officer in the leg. When the handler could not get Billy to let go, the officer shot Billy three times in the head. Shortly thereafter, the suspect exited the building with the items he had allegedly stolen. He told officers that “[he] was the one who was supposed to be shot.”
This same department was earlier responsible for the death of another dog. Another Belgian Malinois was left unattended in an automobile while the officer attended a use-of-force training seminar. When he returned to the car, the dar was near death and then died in the hospital. I was unable to find out the name of this dog. No punishment was brought against the officer.
SOURCE: SFGate

Two Unnamed Dogs

Posted: February 8, 2013 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
“Within ten seconds of leaving his car, [the officer] pulls his trigger and shoots one of the dogs. The dog wagged its tail, started to struggle on its back, and ultimately died .”
Police support the officer and contend he did nothing wrong. This is an argument I hate. We have methods to euthanize dangerous animals (if these were, in fact, dangerous animals), and they do not involve bullets. Police officers are not animal control, and they shouldn’t become animal control. It’s not possible, in ten seconds, to make any kind of accurate determination.
This support from the police department is — as readers of this blog know — the norm. Almost all such cases are internally investigated, and almost all internal investigations result in the determination that the officer was acting “according to procedure.” No one thinks to question the procedures themselves. “Just following orders” is not an acceptable defense.

Ziggy

Posted: February 8, 2013 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
jeff-fisher-and-ziggy
Where have we heard this before? Police show up to the wrong house, knock their way through the front door, and shoot a dog. This time the dog was Ziggy.
“They killed my dog for no reason,” Fisher said. “I don’t have kids. That’s my son.”
An emotional video from Fisher in the source below. My heart aches watching this man.
Source: CBS Denver
Posted: February 8, 2013 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
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“When Allen heard the gunshot, she ran outside and saw her dog lying in a pool of blood. A neighbor told her what happened. The police officer said he was sorry and immediately called his sergeant.”
“I let my one-year-old run around with that dog,” said next-door neighbor Beth Ann Smith. “Out of all my time living here I’ve only heard the dog bark once.”
Source: Examiner

Belle

Posted: August 24, 2012 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
A Vallejo police officer said he had “no choice but to shoot” when two dogs charged him. The officer had come to the home to investigate a case of identity theft filed by the occupant. The officer opened the front gate without asking permission, and when two dogs came around the corner–
“They were aggressive. He felt they were trying to attack him and, in his defense, he fired two rounds, striking the closest dog.”
Belle, an 11-year-old Labrador mix, died immediately. The owner of the dog said that she and her family are “big fans of the police” and that she “feel[s] a lot of compassion for the police officer who shot my dog.”
Her son might not feel the same:
“I’m really upset, because she’s dead now and she can’t come back. I’m mad at the police officer and sad because Belle is gone.”
Source: SFGate

Jack

Posted: August 24, 2012 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
When the Bullocks “returned home from a family member’s funeral,” they found three bullets and a note from the police asking them to call about their dog. According to the police, Jack had gotten out, and when two officers tried to catch up, he nipped one of them. One officer tazed the dog, and then shot him three times. As always: they acted according to procedure.
They Bullocks told their 3-year-old son that his dog ran away, and the boy has taken to barking for him, hoping that he’ll hear and come running.
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EfztqLMjJw

Bully, Boss, and Kahlua

Posted: August 24, 2012 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
According to to Kathy Thomas, police officers attempting to serve her friend entered a yard — with a sign alerting them to the presence of dogs — and then shot all three dogs. Police said that they feared for their lives, and were doing what they had to.
Justice for Bully, Boss, and Kahlua Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Justice-for-Bully-Boss-Kahlua/407257949331958
Source: http://www.wpbf.com/news/south-florida/Palm-Beach-County-News/Woman-says-deputies-shot-killed-her-3-dogs/-/8815578/16133784/-/4odp0gz/-/index.html

Baxter

Posted: August 24, 2012 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
Baxter, an Australian shepherd, was fired at 6 times by police officers when he got through a malfunctioning gate. Robert Clements, his owner, had insisted that he would take the police officers to court, but said he wasn’t after the money. Instead:
“I want to expose the police for what they are doing. Why didn’t he use Mace on my dog? The simple answer is the cops are trigger happy.”
His 13-year-old son, Cameron, recited a speech to the county commissioners, “telling telling them he lost his brother and best friend when Baxter died.” But, of course, typically a dog is valued only at his or her market price, rather than a figure taking into account their true value.
In this case, the city settled with the family outside of court for $20,000, a sum much larger than we typically see in these cases. (We typically see nothing.) Of course, as always, the police department has said that the officers behaved according to protocol. The protocol is to kill dogs.
Source: http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981569628

Cisco

Posted: April 19, 2012 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
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Cisco and his person, Paxton, were playing Frisbee in his backyard. When Paxton went to grab something from his truck, a police officer arrived, drew his pistol, and pointed it at Paxton. (He was responding to a domestic disturbance a few doors down but had been given the wrong address.) Cisco ran toward the officer, who shot and killed him.
The following exchange was recorded by the police camera:
Paxton: “Why did you shoot my dog?”
Officer: “Why didn’t you get your dog when I told you to get your dog?
Paxton: “I didn’t know! I just came around the corner. You pulled a gun at me and told me to put my hands up. What was I supposed to do?
Officer: “Okay, but you knew your dog was back there, correct?!”
Paxton: “I didn’t know anybody was here. I was just walking to my car.”
Officer: “Oh my Gosh.”
When Paxton went on KLBJ-FM’s “Dudley & Bob Morning Show” to discuss the issue, the officer called in to apologize.
The Austin Police Department issued a statement, saying, “There are several pieces in the process right now that we are looking at.” Hopefully, this will end in something other than the typical “the officer was following protocol.” Hopefully, but not likely.
Paxton: “My best friend. You killed my f—ing best friend”
Sources: ABCNews (audio of event), Statesman, KXAN

Ava

Posted: March 20, 2012 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments
Ava
According to the Facebook page Justice for Ava, Brittany Moore called the police to report threatening phone calls.  A police officer then came to her home, decided her dog was being threatening, and shot her. According to Brittany, this was the officer’s second time to kill a dog.
Both Brittany and a neighbor claim that the dog didn’t do anything wrong, with the neighbor saying
“I remember that her tail was wagging as she walked towards the officer”
but the Boulder County District Attorney has decided that the officer was not in the wrong with his decision to use deadly force.
“I keep reliving the sound that she made when he shot her and then Ivy, our golden retriever, went and was trying to help her up,” Brittany said.

Bucky

Posted: March 20, 2012 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
“He shot pop, pop. The dog was down then pop, pop, pop. I said, ‘Man, you just shot my dog.’ And he said, ‘You [expletive] idiot. You let your dog out.’” – Fox D.F.W.
Bucky was shot five times in front of his owner’s children. The family has created a Facebook page,Justice for Bucky.

Unnamed Belgian Malinois

Posted: March 20, 2012 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
On May 5, another police Belgian Malinois died after being left inside an Alameda officer’s personal sport utility vehicle as the officer attended a use-of-force training exercise.
After several hours, the officer returned to his vehicle – which had at least one window down for ventilation – and found his dog near death. The dog died at a veterinary hospital. The officer was not charged.
Never leave a dog alone in a vehicle.

Deano

Posted: March 20, 2012 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
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The bullet went through his nose and broke his teeth on the right side.
Karen Gentry raced Deano to the Skyline Animal Clinic, fearing for his life because of how much blood he had lost. The police officer that had came to her house had been looking for a “Haskins,” but Gentry had lived at that home since she was 17, and there had never been a Haskins. She had stepped back inside, and the officer had shot her dog.
Neighbor Tiffany Hayes had seen the whole thing:
The cop was here, and Deano was coming around the corner. He was just coming up to greet him.
The officer claims that the dog was attempting to bite him.
This story at least has a happy ending: Deano did survive, and the sheriff’s office has offered to pay for all of the injuries. Still, says Gentry, it doesn’t make up for what they did.
[Technically, this one doesn't belong on this blog, since Deano didn't die, but I figured the blog needed one ray of sunshine.]

Jake

Posted: March 19, 2012 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
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The Charleston County Sheriff’s office believes that their officer followed proper protocol for the situation, but an outside investigator has been called in to pursue a more in-depth investigation.
Another “in-depth investigation.” Ho-hum.

Cammi

Posted: November 19, 2011 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | 49 Comments
Cammi was accused of being vicious, and shot by this officer of the Lagrange Police Department.
This video is quite graphic, but if you watch it, judge for yourself how vicious this dog is.

Rosie

Posted: June 19, 2011 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | 6 Comments
Rosie escaped from her yard. A neighbor called the police, worried that the dog would get run over because some children were chasing it. Police showed up, Tasered and chased the dog, which got away and ran into Lora Petty’s yard. She closed the gate behind the dog, effectively trapping him.
Twenty minutes later, the police showed up, opened the gate, came in, and — according to YesBiscuit! — this is what happened next:
At this point, the officers all agreed that the dog was a threat to public safety and to them personally so one of the officers put a bullet in her.  She fell to the ground, her eyes rolled back in her head and her breathing was labored.  Apparently still deeming the dog to be a public threat, the officer put a second bullet in her.  At that point the dog began to yelp.  Apparently the dog was still a threat to public safety so he shot her a 3rd time.  After that shot she struggled to sit up, trying to move away.  Apparently the officer felt she was still a threat and so put a 4th bullet in her which killed her.  Then he poked her with a stick to make sure she was dead.
Lora Petty, the owner of the yard where the dog was killed, says that the dog was scared, not aggressive, and said:
“It was quick. They already had their mind set on what they were going to do. Their main concern was shooting the dog.”
Additionally, she said that a police officer came into her house afterwards, giggling about shooting the dog. After that, she set up a memorial in her front yard:

Patton

Posted: June 19, 2011 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | 4 Comments
“He’s the gentlest dog that I’ve ever been around. He’s like Sooby Doo. He wasn’t mean at all.”
Mom, Dad, and their 17-year-old son were asked to step out of their vehicle and kneel down on the ground. Dad had left his wallet on the top of his car at a gas station, and through some sort of mix-up, the police thought that he had stolen the car. He asked if they would close the doors of their car so that their two dogs would not escape, but the police refused.
The dog ran outside and was seen “romping on the shoulder of the Interstate, its tale wagging. As the family yells, Patton first heads away from the road, then quickly circles back toward the family. An officer in blue uniform aims his shotgun at the dog and fires at its head, killing it immediately.”
As usual, the Police Chief issues the statement:
“I know the officer wishes that circumstances could have been different so he could have prevented shooting the dog,” Terry wrote. “It is never gratifying to have to put an animal down, especially a family pet, and the officer assures me that he never displayed any satisfaction in doing so.”
The mere fact that it must be stated to the public that a cop doesn’t get pleasure from killing a family pet shows what sort of depravity we’re willing to accept from our police forces.
This video is — like all of these videos — extremely graphic, not for the murder of an animal it depicts (which, as usual, is blurry and difficult to make out), but for the screams and wails of a family that knows their beloved friend has been killed for no reason.

Source: CNN

Ciarra

Posted: June 19, 2011 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment
The alarm company called Elizabeth Fletcher to tell her that her alarm had gone off. Their house-sitter had gone out for breakfast, so they called 911. Soon, they reached the sitter, who arrived at the house around the same time as the officer.
Fletcher talked to the officer over the phone, joking. He had been the same officer who had come out a few months ago when her car had been broken into. The officer said he was going to take a look around and make sure everything was safe.
Then he went into the backyard and shot Ciarra. Neighbors Ashley Derrick and Alison Grounds rushed the dog to the vet, but she couldn’t be saved. In an email to the East Lake Neighbors Community Association, Derrick wrote:
“I asked why [the officer] had to shoot her. He could give me no answer.”
Fletcher said they were speaking out for one primary reason:
“We don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”

Bruiser

Posted: June 19, 2011 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | 3 Comments
This is a particular abhorrent example because not only did no crime take place, but the cops weren’t even under the impression that a crime had taken place. In fact, an officer had just gotten out of his car to ask for directions when Bruiser (pictured above), came running out to meet thim.
Standing a foot away from his cop car, the officer drew his pistol and shot Bruiser.
He had a ride-along with him that was actually his brother-in-law. I think he was showing off. And I think that he thought he was going to get away with it and nobody would know who shot the dog.
She also says that initially the police claimed that the dog was trying to attack him, but that when she said she’d recorded the events they changed their story, offered her money, and told her to keep quiet. The Grady County Sheriff’s Office refused to comment.


Max

Posted: June 19, 2011 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments
When Andrea Hill’s 6-year-old son went missing, she called police to help with the search. They showed up, and Hill’s mom — with the confusing last name of Linda Hall (one letter off) — put the dog in a bedroom. Then, they went to look for the kid, but when they came back, Andrea had let the dog out of the bedroom.
They came to the house and promptly killed Hill’s dog, which I’m sure — somehow, perhapsholistically — helps in their search for the child.
First, the Deputy Chief’s story:
“Basically, he came out and started attacking the officer. He got to the degree where he was growling, had his mouth open trying to bite the officer. You have an officer that’s being viciously attacked by a 60-pound dog, and he had no choice.”
Now, Hall’s version of the story (from someone who was actually there):
“He opened that door and he shot the dog in the face. The dog came at his shoe, but he didn’t bite him. He didn’t hurt him. He was getting at his shoe to try to get him to leave.”
But wait, it gets worse. It turns out that Max was medically-trained to alert the family when Andrea, an epileptic, was having a seizure. A few weeks later, without the dog to alert the family, Andrea had a seizure and died. The police, of course, were sympathetic:
“We’re sorry for her death, for the destruction of the dog, but I think we reacted properly.”
Yes, “following protocol,” no doubt.

Parrot

Posted: June 19, 2011 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | 7 Comments
“The officer drew his gun in an unnecessary act of cowboy gunslinging law enforcement and shot my dog amidst a crowd of thousands,” said Block, who was fostering Parrot while he was waiting to be adopted through the Lucky Dog Animal Rescue. “The problems here are almost too numerous to count.”
Block’s account is supported by at least one witness, Jennifer Naideth, 29, who was in town from Los Angeles selling cosmetics at the festival. She called the shooting “so unnecessary and so violent,” adding that “there was no human life in danger.”
A retired police officer who was also on the scene, 67-year-old Tony De Pass,  defended the officer:
“What he did, I would have done the same damn thing,” De Pass said.
Source: Washington Post

Gloria

Posted: June 19, 2011 | Author:  | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment
“While circling the rear perimeter, lab advanced on officers in a threatening manner before being shot and killed.”
That’s what the hand-written note Mary Kate Hallock found on her Oakland home door when she returned home from running errands.
The Oakland police had responded to a false burglar alarm, and when Gloria — an arthritic lab — “growled and barked” at an officer, he shot her three times with a 40-caliber Glock handgun.
When the Hallock’s husband brought the dog’s body home from the animal shelter, Hallock’s children, 11 and 15, cried and told stories about Gloria, who suffered from hip-dysplasia and arthritis. Certainly a menacing threat.
“It was like a physical blow,” Hallock said. “It just didn’t feel right. The officer who later apologized sounded sincere, but it would have been nice to hear from the officer who actually shot her.”
Again, personal responsibility is shifted onto the institution at large, so much so that another officer actually thinks he can apologize for the actions of his peer. The Police Chief issued a statement, saying:
We are investigating the incident to ensure that proper policies and procedures were followed and evaluating possible ways to improve outcomes related to future contacts with animals.”
Sources: here, here, and here
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