Friday, July 31, 2009

Ludowici use guns instead of catch poles

Ludowici police in Georgia don't have an actual animal control facility. They don't have catch poles. They have no truck in which to transport animals in.

So when they are faced with loose dogs, especially those who are exhibiting fearful/aggressive behaviors, they feel their only recourse is to use guns.

And that is what happened to Jasmine who happened to be running loose and possibly chasing/approaching people. She never bit anyone but when animal control arrived, they felt it was better to shoot her instead of try to restrain her....which they couldn't do anyways b/c they don't own a catch pole.

I mean, this is just absolutely ridiculous - what a great way to set up an entire system for failure.

Midwest city police shoot and kill biting dog

Two large dogs who had escaped from their property attacked two people. One person required hospital admittance while the other suffered minor injuries.

One dog had gone back into the backyard where s/he was corralled and taken to animal control and later euthanized. The other dog attempted to attack officers as they were putting a catch pole on him. He was shot dead.

Atlanta police shoot dog in own backyard

An officer responding to a house alarm  entered the backyard and was approached by the resident dog. He shot the dog.


ETA: I found this article, which is much more detailed, including information like that the officer who was sent into the backyard to check things out was afraid of dogs.

I agree with this:
"I'd like for the police to get training on this. It strikes me as bizarre that there aren't things in place, protocol and trainings in place, that teach officers who are obviously going to come into contact with family animals, the way to respond in a responsible way," said Feichter.

From the guardian of the dog who was killed. Apparently there were two dogs and a petsitter. The alarm went off and the pet sitter couldn't get it turned off. Police came just to check things out so they knew two dogs were present. One officer went to the backyard where the shooting happened.

Howard county sued by owners of dog killed in no knock raid

Back in 2008, a couple's dog was shot and killed during the execution of a no-knock warrant performed by the paramilitary SWAT. They are now suing Howard County over the raid. The two were acquitted of any charges and it was an acquaintance at the resident in possession of drugs, not the couple themselves (who have no prior criminal record).

I'm not necessarily buying all the claims made in the lawsuit, but SWAT has been known to shoot dogs through screen doors and, in another Maryland case, shot and killed dogs running away from them so I don't find it surprising they might take out the dog(s) first.

The article also refers to the February 2009 incident in which Howard County SWAT invaded a home and killed the family's dog. In the article above, officials claim Howard County SWAT had a really good reason to invade the home - stolen weapons. That were never found, by the way, and that had nothing to do with the family actually in residence at the time (the step-son was the guilty party and hadn't lived there for three years).

Kirksville police kill dog

Hey, at the very least, Kirksville police showed some laudable self-restraint in trying a whole host of alternatives before drawing a weapon....and this with a dog who had actually bit someone!

The dog was loose in a backyard. I'm not sure if the backyard was unsecure or what but, for whatever reason, the dog was wreaking havoc in the backyard. Officers attempted to catch pole the dog without success (not sure how that works, it's generally pretty successful with a confined animal). They then tried pepper spray twice. And then they shot and killed the dog.

Surfside officer aims for dog, shoots woman instead

While getting the mail, holding his daughter, an off-duty Surfside officer was approached by a neighbor's dog. He withdrew his service weapon and shot at the dog, missing and hitting a woman in the neck instead.

Dog on his own property is shot by Long Beach police

A dog was loose in his own driveway when, for some reason, police were called. The officer shot the dog, who retreated back into the garage where he lived. The dog will survive.

Lakewood police taser dog twice

A loose dog exhibiting classic fearful and, quite frankly, non threatening displays was tasered twice by Lakewood police. The police also insist the dog is a pit bull when the dog is clearly a Boxer. I mean, clearly.

I'm glad they didn't use a gun which is always more lethal than a taser, but doesn't Lakewood have an animal control? The taser's video shows a dog who I could have gotten six feet from and lassoed with a catch pole. The taser's video also shows a dog who is clearly not a valid threat and is acting like a scared dog willing to flee.

Now the owner has to prove his dog isn't dangerous even though his dog did not bite or scratch any human being and simply had the misfortune of being in a town where police confused Boxers for pit bulls and don't act sorry about it.

Palm Bay police shoot dog with bean bag and bullet

A dog scaled a 6' fence and was acting fearful aggressive towards police officers. The officers had already entered the property and my guess is the dog was overwhelmed and overstimulated when he reacted. Partial video shows a very frightened dog, not a dog about to go on a rampage (not saying he isn't dangerous, by any means).

Interestingly, the officers who fired at the charging dog took two different tactics. One chose to fire a bean bag at the dog while the other fired a bullet. The bean bag, which is supposed to be a pretty painful deterrent, hit the dog in the head, the bullet in the leg. Animal control was able to come in and catch pole the dog.

Jackson County, Oregon kill dog

So we have a dog who is "menacing" a cable employee. Jackson County deputies arrive. They used pepper spray, which caused the dog to back off. When the dog tried to escape, charging at the officers, he was shot and killed.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Lafayette police kills dog

(The dog was erroneously reported as a pit bull in THIS article)

A large dog who may have spent most of his time chained up outside got off the chain, escaped and frightened a woman so much she and her child climbed up on a car to escape. Police were called. The officer was charged by the dog, he withdrew his service weapon and shot the dog seven times. I'll agree with witnesses that seven times is extreme, especially in a residential area.

Lots of conflicting reports: Dog is friendly, according to some neighbors. Dog is not friendly, according to others.

Canadian police shoot dog

A dog-aggressive dog was shot after attacking a police dog during a marijuana operation bust.

And that is all that is really given in the story.

St. Petersburg police kill biting dog

Another chained dog, another biting dog.
The dog was chained and got loose. She bit a couple of people before police came out. The dog charged the officers and it wasn't until the dog was hanging off one's hand that the dog was shot and killed.

Rushville police chief shoots dog playing w/ other dog

An escape artist of a dog was shot and killed by the Rushville chief of police.

The dog was not acting aggressive towards neighbors or the public and was, in point of fact, spending his time playing with another dog. The dog has a history of getting loose and also of avoiding capture except by his owner. Which is why animal control called his owner and told her of the loose dog situation.

By the time she arrived at the location, her dog was dying.

According to witnesses, the dog was playing with another dog and wouldn't jump into the chief of police's car. The chief claims the dog charged toward him, at which point he shot him once. The dog was down when the chief of police shot him again.

Leesburg, GA police shoot charging dog

Once again, we have a case of an owner unable to contain his dog.
 As the owner was rounding up the dogs, one charged the two officers. I am not certain if the officers gave the owner a chance to corral his wayward dog or if they just saw the dog charge and drew their weapons.

The dog is expected to survive.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Horsham, PA police use alternatives to subdue dog

So a really angry dog broke through a window and threatened the general calmness of a neighborhood. Police were called.

Okay, here's where I have to admit I smiled:

When the first responding officer arrived and noticed the large, loose dog acting aggressive and charging at him, he went back to his patrol car. Now I understand this isn't always an option due to the fact patrol cars don't just follow you wherever you go. When it is an option, though, I've read countless stories of officer choosing to use lethal force in a situation when they could have retreated back to their squad car and reassessed the situation (and this was in absence of the dog being a threat to anybody else).

So, good first thinking!

When the dog became aggressive towards other people, the officer and other responding officers took action by trying a taser on the dog. It worked. They then used a nifty device called a catch pole to completely restrain the dog.

The owner did arrive shortly thereafter and restrained her dog - oh god, I bet she was embarrassed. The dog remains with the owner.

Good job, Horsham PD.

(I personally think the reason the dog went ape-shit was probably boredom and an inflated sense of self and possibly feeling overly emo about his last name, Livshits).

Blanchester police taze dog

Blanchester, OH police chose to taze a dog in lieu of shooting him. Why?

“Miller and Ptl. Casey Gray then approached the dog in the back yard of 204 S. Columbus St. and Miller tried to grab its collar and the dog tried to bite him,” Reinbolt said. “Due to the number of people in close proximity, the officers used sound judgment and stunned the dog with an electric taser to subdue it instead of attempting to shoot it,” the police chief said.





Charlotte police shoot biting dog

 But there was a loose dog and he did bite the officer to which the officer responded by shooting the dog.

Tallahassee police kill dog let loose by owner

So a man stole his ex-girlfriend's dog, threatening to kill him. When she reported this, police arrived at the ex-bf's home. He refused to come out. Instead, he let loose his dog.

One officer was able to deter the dog but then the dog locked onto another officer. The dog did not bite but was acting aggressive and lunging at officers. One officer did shot the dog in the chest. He was taken to a vet and euthanized.

Danville, VA fire officer who shot miniature doxie

I'm surprised, really. Rarely do these cases result in disciplinary action, let alone the complete discharge of an officer.

I blogged about this earlier. Initially higher-ups in the police department defended the actions of the officer who shot and killed a 5-10lb miniature doxie who had approached him from behind.

Now they are singing a different tune. The officer has been fired.

New York, 25% of shots fired aimed at animals

Like LA, when New York police officers discharge a weapon, a quarter of the time they are taking aim at animals, mainly dogs.

In 2008, NYPD shot 30 dogs and have shot 15 this year. While officers only hit people 23% of the time, they hit dogs 55% of the time.

This is all public information, generally. But the NY Times article is in response to a recent shooting of a dog. Police were responding to a noise disturbance (really, a "men fighting in the hallway" disturbance). Eight officers arrived. When they knocked on the door of the man in question, the guy let the dog out.

Now, this is what I find interesting - the dog ran past five officers. Here we are, in a narrow hallway, with eight officers and the dog runs past five of them? A really aggro dog isn't going to be all "Oh hey, these five humans right here in front of me aren't worth my attention, but those three in the back? The ones near the exit? They must be eaten!" Wrong. I don't know if the first five officers were all "hey, a dog" as he zoomed by and the three were all "zomg! a dog!" and decided to shoot the dog seven times or what.

The ricocheting bullets injured three officers and the dog's owner and obviously the dog got killed. Discharging three weapons in a narrow hallway over a dog who just patently ignored five different humans is really dangerous.

The dog was purported to be friendly, though his owner has a litany of complaints. Even friendly dogs could react poorly to a hallway full of testosterone-laden, stressed out dudes/dudettes w/ weapons. Shame on the owner for letting the dog out in the first place, clearly not a real class act.

Friday, July 3, 2009

SWAT shoots chained dog, hits bystander w/ bullet

A man has been wounded and a chained dog is now dead after Palm Beach SWAT (paramilitary) "served" a search warrant in an "ongoing investigation" by opening fire on a dog.

The dog was chained.

This story is missing an appallingly large amount of information. What was the search warrant for? Did police enter the property or remain on the porch? If the dog did attack, why is there no mention of injuries? What are these "non-lethal" methods SWAT speaks of?

The wounded man was hit by a ricochet and was not part of the investigation. He's very lucky. This is, of course, a problem with discharging weapons in a residential area. Over a chained animal, no less.

And even though four officers took out a chained dog, injuring a bystander, none of the officers have been put on paid administrative leave.

Oh and news agencies have different takes on this story:
West Palm Beach man recovering....
vs.
Police kill pit bull during search warrant

Kansas City police shoot dog four times

There is a lot of information missing from this story, so I'll just share the bare bones:

Police shot a small dog four times in his own backyard, killing the dog.

I don't know why police were there or why they felt the need to shoot a 15-lb dog.