Alton police shoot and kill two dogs, taser a third

A man is facing misdemeanor charges after his dogs escaped from his house during a police interview and were shot or tasered.

Someone reported that a dog was running loose. Police responded and approached a home with a barking dog, assuming it was the house with the loose dog. As they talked to the resident, a dog escaped from the screened in porch and was safely subdued with a Taser by one officer. When the woman was so stupid as to not confine her dogs in another room and they got out, charging an officer as territorial dogs are want to do, this officer selected a gun to deal with the animals. He shot both of them, inevitably resulting in their deaths.

Salisbury police use taser to subdue dog

A loose dog who had attacked another dog and acted aggressively towards officers was safely subdued with a taser and taken to animal control.

Winnipeg police lure loose dogs into back of car, female gives birth

Two loose dogs were saved by police after the officers bought food at a supermarket and lured the two dogs into the back of a police cruiser.

A shooting call required a 4-hour detour for the officer and dogs in which the female ended up giving birth in the back of the cruiser.

The "owner" was cited for having at-large dogs and he picked up all the muttskie puppies and the adults at the shelter.

Clackmas, OR: Police dog handler shoots one dog, another tazed

Police were tracking down three shooting and burglary suspects. At one home, when a K-9 handler entered the backyard, they encountered two dogs who had run out of the house. The dogs were in their backyard on their own property. The smaller dog attacked the police dog causing minor injuries. At one point, the K-9 handler shot the smaller dog, requiring her to be euthanized. Another officer tasered the larger dog and the owner was able to bring the dog safely inside.

Kansas City, MO: Officers try tranquilizer, use catch pole with aggro dog

A 10-yr-old girl is credited with saving the life of her younger brother as he was being attacked by a dog. The dog had escaped at some point during the day and the children may have been trying to get him in the backyard. There was another dog chained, so possibly both dogs were normally chained. The dog bit the boy in the face and the 10-yr-old latched on to the dog's neck with her arms and physically pulled the dog off.

When animal control arrived, the girl pleaded with them not to shoot the dog. Instead, they attempted to use a tranquilizer gun, failed, and then used catch poles to wrangle the two aggressive dogs.

Walnut Ridge, AR taser

WALNUT RIDGE, AR (KAIT) - Animal control officers in several Region 8 cities are dealing with more unleashed animals.

In Walnut Ridge, animal control officers tell Region 8 News the problem is so bad, they impound the animal if they pick it up 3 times. In most cases it's dogs that are picked up. If no one claims the dog after 5 days, it is euthanized.

So Region 8 News went to Walnut Ridge to investigate. Shortly after we arrived, we found a dog wandering without a leash inside of the city limits. While we were getting video of the dog roaming around, a Walnut Ridge animal control officer pulled up.

Our cameras were rolling as the animal control officer tased the dog. He says the animal was acting aggressively. The officer says he was within his rights to tase the animal.

Watch the video and tell us if he acted appropriately in our Web poll.

http://www.kait8.com/Global/story.asp?S=10965647#WNPoll86567

Police dog shootings put focus on training

Two recent articles from different cities regarding shootings of dogs by police:

Atlanta Journal Constitution

News Telegram

Very interesting stuff. No duh stuff, too.

El cajon police use stun gun on aggressive dog

A loose dog who was acting aggressively towards people was shot with a taser instead of a gun.

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.

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.

New Zealand police corral two dangerous dogs w/o shooting

We have a story out of New Zealand where two dogs broke from their chains and savagely mauled an elderly man. A passer-by was able to kick one dog off and beat the other dog with the metal bar attached to the dog's chain (which was still attached to the dog). After that, the dog backed away from the bite victim.

Officers arrived and used their cars to bodily corral the dogs into a safe, confined area. They used pepper spray and a fire extinguisher to subdue the dogs enough to safely handle them.