Monday, March 30, 2009

Two dogs killed after narcotics raid revealed nothing

Buffalo narcotics officers shot and killed two family pets in a drug raid. One dog was a 5-yr-old boxer/pit bull mix who was shot three times for jumping off the couch. The other dog, a 4-yr-old pit bull, was shot from behind as he ran away from officers.

The raid was for hydrocdone pills, like vicodin and apparently was SO very important that officers just had to storm the house, kill the dogs and then scratch their heads in wonderment when, surprise!, no pills were found. This was a case where the owners could have been given ample opportunities to secure their dogs. Instead, some trigger-happy officer blew away two family pets.

Police officials claimed that "these dogs are trained to kill".

Oh, really?

Like this cattle dog in Maryland who was shot to death during a no-knock paramilitary raid on a home....for a person who hadn't lived there for three years? Or this Dalmatian in Florida who was shot during a drug search for barking at an officer while securely enclosed in her backyard? Or maybe these two Labs in Maryland were also trained to kill? Afterall, they were running away from officers during a paramilitary (SWAT) no-knock raid. Running away is now the new "trained to kill" behavior. Or maybe it's the four dogs shot and killed by police in Omaha all during drug raids; with one exception, none of the dogs attempted to eat anybody.

I just cannot imagine ALL of these dogs are trained to kill, especially when many of them are in homes where no drug activity occurs. As to the recent Buffalo case - is the possibility of finding vicadin pills really worth an automatic death sentence for two beloved pets? Not to mention the valid fear that the officer could have misfired and hit the owner of the dogs sitting five feet away. Or that the house was in a residential area and the guy was shooting with a large shotgun. The officer's response seemed excessive, at best, criminal at worst. Sadly, it's doubtful the officer will receive any proper training on how to interact with dogs and their owners or any fines or jail time for killing two family pets.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Dog shot and killed during drug raid

A dog was shot and killed after narcotics officers swarmed a Council Bluffs home for 56 g of meth and stolen electronics.

There isn't much to this story - was it a no-knock warrant or did the officers enter with permission/warrant?

If it was the latter, why wasn't the persons arrested immediately asked to restrain their dog? If it was the former, then I can only say that it would not have mattered if the dog attacked or ran away, he would have been shot and killed.

Police shoot at two dogs

Two dogs were shot at by a police officer in Denton, Texas. One dog was described as a pit bull, the other dog was unknown. In response to which dog he shot at, the officer claimed he didn't know but "most likely" the pit bull. The dogs appeared to have been running loose earlier in the day when animal control was called. The police officer was responding to a non-dog call when the dogs approached him. Although he had pepper spray available, he chose to shoot at the dogs instead. It is unknown if the dogs were actually shot.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Dog dragging chain shot to death

Weird story out of North Carolina where an emaciated stray dog dragging a chain was shot to death by a deputy after the dog bit a woman trying to help it.

It's weird because, well, there was a freaking chain that somebody could have grabbed and used to corral the dog. Instead, a deputy allowed a civilian to approach a loose, potentially aggressive dog, and when the frightened dog bit her once on the hand (with no canines, to boot!), the deputy shot the dog with a shotgun.

Yes, dog owners must be responsible (I doubt this dog's owner would have been responsible enough not to harm someone with a chia pet, let alone a dog). But police still need better methods of dealing with loose dogs than shooting them to death.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Dog shot three times

An irresponsible owner in Phenix (not to be confused with Phoenix), Georgia let her 3-yr-old dog out to pee. He got distracted by two people talking down the road and approached them. According to the owner, the dog was trotting up to the two men. According to the police officer who shot the dog, the dog was charging. The officer drew his weapon and shot the dog three times, the third time right about when the owner arrived to grab her dog.

Again, commenters note that the dog is friendly.


The dog is recovering and the owner is filing a complaint. Hopefully, she has learned never to let her dog off leash in inappropriate areas. This could have been avoided if she had done that as much as if the officer had shown some restraint and truly took stock of the situation.

Loose dog shot and killed

I'm not sure what my take is on this particular case. Here we have two loose dogs acting aggressively. Unknown at the time, these dogs have gotten loose and acted aggressive before. So clearly the owner is irresponsible with how they manage their dogs.

In any event, in this particular case, the owner was nearby when the two dogs walked out of the open backyard gate. A kid nearby was charged by the dogs, one of whom who bit the child once on the hand. Police were called.

Now here is where it gets a little weird. The owner was able to restrain one dog. So the owner was nearby when the other dog became agitated and began charging at officers, one of whom shot and killed the dog. Why on earth didn't the owner put the first dog away and come out to get the other? Why didn't police tell her to do just that? (Maybe they did, it isn't reported).

Dogs shot while running loose

There isn't much detail to this story (no surprise there), except that three 8-month-old dogs were running loose. One of them jumped on a frightened jogger and nipped her, not breaking the skin. An officer shot and killed one of the dogs when it supposedly charged.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Off-duty officer accused of shooting dog 20 times

An off-duty Knoxville police officer is being investigate after he shot a dog 20 times with a pellet gun. The dog had gotten out in the backyard and was squatting to pee when shot.

I'm not sure how a squatting dog poses a clear and present danger but it will be interesting to see if anything happens to this officer.

I won't hold my breath.

Officer kills dog attacking other dog

Here's a story out of New Jersey where some jerk threw a small poodle into a yard with three dogs. One of the dogs attacked the poodle. The dog wouldn't drop the poodle so an officer busted out his gun and shot the dog, killing him.

Vandalia Controversy Over Police Shooting Dogs

I don't know where the truth lies exactly except that police shot two dogs, including one dog who was chased - yes, chased - for an hour before being shot to death.

In the first story, a mixed breed dog is shot in the leg after apparently lunging at an officer. The dog had been running loose and acting in a "threatening manner" and so police were called in. According to police, they tried macing the dog but the dog still "lunged" and so the dog was shot.

The second story is more tragic. A dog got out of her yard and was running loose. For over an hour, they chased this scared, frightened dog. I don't know the details but it sounds like that the dog was not acting aggressive but scared. She was running away. And she was still shot 2-3 times and killed.