Lorain Police Shoot and Kill Chained Dog

July, 2011
Lorain, Ohio
Link to article

FOr some reason, officers were called to remove a chained dog from under a truck. The dog was lured out with dog biscuits but instead of grabbing the chain, the officer grabbed the dog's collar. The dog bit him once. The officer then shot him twice, killing the dog.

January 2011: Police Kills Dog Who Breaks Free From Chain

January, 2011 - Tennessee

A police officer was flagged down by a man regarding a call over a long gun. He noticed a large, black dog chained nearby barking.

The dog broke from the chain and charged. The officer shot the dog once, killing him.

October 2010: Loose Dog Shot

Halifax, Canada

A dog was broke free from his chain was walking around on Halloween. The dog was "walking aggressively" but only acted aggressively when officers intervened. The dog lunged at one officer and was then shot and killed. The dog is described as a Rottweiler-Mastiff mix.

October 2010: Shelby Police Kill Dog

Shelby, North Carolina

Police were pursuing robbery suspects when they encountered a chained Boxer and Pit Bull. The Boxer, aged 13, broke her chain and nipped a police officer, creating a hole in his pants. The officer responded to ripped pants by shooting the dog dead. The Pit Bull did not attempt to attack anyone.

July 2010 Police Kills Chained Dog During Chase

Charlotte, North Carolina - An officer chasing down a drug suspect was attacked by a chained Pit Bull. The chain permitted the dog access to an adjacent property. The officer shot the dog who was biting him. Another Pit Bull was chained nearby. That dog was not shot. The officer suffered a bite wound but will recover.

Dog shot by police in 2006 dies of unrelated causes

In 2006, police arrived at a home because of a dog bite report. The victim had been bitten by a family member's dog and had gone to the hospital. Her own dog had been tied up out front. When the officer arrived, the tethered dog growled once and the officer responded by shooting the dog in the head. He was on a 5' tether.

The city never formally apologized though they did pay for all veterinary costs.

Recently, the dog died from pancreatitis, unrelated to the gunshot wound.

Eminence, KY: Police chief shoots dog

A dog had gotten loose from his chain and was wandering around a neighborhood, dragging four feet of chain behind him.

The dog is owned by a sheriff's deputy.

Witness reports claim the following:
- A car pulled up alongside the loose dog, a man got out and began swinging a cane at the dog.
- The dog was walking on the sidewalk and did not menace anyone
- Police shot the dog as he walked on the sidewalk

The man with the cane claims the dog attacked him, although the news article does not report any particular wounds.

The article leaves out why the chief of police shot the dog as well as why there was a crowd of people walking with the cane-wielding man.

Apparently the dog survived since the owner wanted the city to pay for the animal's medical expenses. The city refused.

Columbia Heights police shoot tethered, restrained dog

Several children trespassed into a neighbor's yard (unknown whether this was front/back or if fence surrounded property, assuming not w/ the chaining) and began throwing rocks and other objects at a chained dog. At some point, one of the children got close enough to the dog for her to scratch and/or bite the child once on the stomach.

Police were called.

Police entered the property and approached the dog who acted aggressively. The police were able to catch-pole the dog. They then tasered the dog. Finally, even though she was secured on a chain and with a catch pole, officers shot her three time, killing her.


The dog's owner is suing. Meanwhile, the chief of police argues that shooting a chained, tasered dog was the only option available to the officers.

Maricopa, CA: Police chief shoots two dogs, one chained

The police chief of Maricopa is accused of a vendetta against certain types of dogs. He has shot two dogs in the past few weeks, including one dog who was chained in his own yard.

North Belle Vernon, PA

NORTH BELLE VERNON, Pa. -- John Gida was walking his two Malteses on Arch Street in North Belle Vernon Friday morning when a neighbor's bulldog attacked, biting Gida and one of his dogs.Gida's wife, Kim, heard the commotion and raced outside to help, but was unsuccessful.A worker at a nearby garage tried to fend the bulldog off with a 2x4, but when that didn't work, a police officer was forced to shoot and kill the bulldog."The dog would not stop. It kept on pounding on me and pounding on me. I thought, 'I'm going to die' because it would not stop," said Kim Gida.

John and Kim Gida

One of the Gidas' dogs suffered 14 puncture wounds and remains in intensive care at an animal hospital.John Gida was also hospitalized.The bulldog's owner told Channel 4 Action News that he feels badly about what happened, but felt the dog should have been put down properly and not shot on the street.The dog's owner added that he was on a dialysis machine at the time and could not get outside fast enough when the bull dog broke free from its collar while tied on the porch.

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/westmoreland/20610504/detail.html

Rutland police shoot chained dog

Rutland police were pursuing a suspect and were accompanied by a police dog. At some point, the K-9 handler encountered a chained dog. The dogs engaged in a fight. The officer pepper sprayed the chained dog and then shot the dog, killing him.

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.

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.

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

Anderson officer kills dog

A chained dog was shot and killed by an Anderson police officer. The dog had just been involved in an attack on a 6-yr-old child. The owner of the dog was drunk while walking the dog when he broke free from his leash and attacked the child. After another person beat the dog off, the woman was able to drag her dog to the backyard and chained him.

When officers were attempting to transfer the dog to animal control, the dog charged. The dog was chained. The dog was shot once in the head and killed.

Fort Payne police officer shoots loose, biting dog

A dog normally chained got loose and ended up biting someone.

The dog bit a mailman once on the chest, which did break the skin.

When the officer arrived, the dog charged but did not bite. The officer fired twice at the dog, hitting him once (or twice). The wounded animal ran three blocks away where he was eventually caught by animal control and euthanized at the shelter.

Wellsville police kill dog

This is a totally odd story out of Wellsville, Ohio.

So we have a dog owner who keeps their dog outside, chained. Prior to the chaining, the dog had a history of running loose and charging at people. The dog appears to have been kept on a 3' chain. At some point, the dog got loose and bit/nipped a 3-yr-old child.

Okay, here's where it gets weird. Wellsville has one animal control officer. That isn't weird. What's odd is that she apparently takes calls in her personal vehicle and has her kids with her. And, while she has a catch pole, it's broken. I mean, come on people, a catch pole is $50 and is rather helpful when catching dogs. The ACO only has a wire crate as well that isn't sufficient for transporting potentially aggressive or stressed dogs.

ACO calls police. Police come out and when the dog lunges,an officer shoots the dog. They don't know if the dog was hit, as he ran under a porch. Instead of trying to help the dog or transport him to a vet, they get permission from the mayor to shoot the dog a second time, killing him.

Then, ACO officer takes the body and buries it in a human cemetery. Seriously. You can't do that. Not just because it's illegal (it is) but also because you're supposed to send dead biting dog bodies to get their head examined for rabies. Well, in this case, it probably wasn't necessary seeing how the dog owner had the dog vaccinated and licensed. So, really, when you KNOW who the dog belongs to, the proper thing to do is maybe ask the owner if they want their dog's body back. Just saying.

Sangamon County deputy shoots and kills chained dog

A dog owner is upset after her chained dog was shot and killed by a Sangamon County deputy.

The officer was responding to a noise complaint at a different residence when he knocked on the back door of the dog owner's home (after avoiding the front door b/c of another dog being present). She asked the deputy to wait a moment while she went to get another resident of the property.

According to two witnesses, the dog approached the officer and was visibly chained. The officer backed up and this is where reports diverge. The witnesses claim the dog did not bite the officer while the officer claimed he was bitten. He did go to the hospital for a minor wound. The officer shot the dog once in the head, killing him.

Chained dog shot in neck while fighting police dog

A dog chained in a backyard was shot point-blank in the neck after engaging in a fight with a police dog. Both dogs were fighting when the officer decided to bust out his weapon and shoot the chained dog in the neck. He wasn't a great shot and the bullet caused more of a graze wound than anything. The police dog suffered a punctured snout.