No Charges Against Colorado Officer Who Killed Pet

The officer who shot and killed 4-yr-old German Shepherd Ava after entering her yard will not face any criminal charges.

Family of Slain Dog File Lawsuit in Commerce City

Commerce City, Colorado

In February, while responding to an accidental 911 call, an officer encountered a 35-lb mixed breed dog barking at her. She claims the dog began charging her, at which point she shot the dog in the head, killing the dog.

Now, the family is filing a  federal lawsuit in the hopes of preventing a similar tragedy.

Memphis refuses to pay veterinary bill of wounded dog

The city of Memphis is refusing to pay for the veterinary bill for the shooting injury of a woman's dog.

The owner has a recording from the security company stating that there are dogs on the property, yet the officer entered the backyard and immediately shot at the two dogs, Labrador Retriever mixes, on the property. One dog was shot, the other ran out the now unlatched gate and was thankfully found later.

Memphis police shoot dogs on their own property

Two Memphis police officers responding to a burglary call arrived at the home, checked the front door, then proceeded to unlatch and enter the fenced in backyard. The two dogs who lived at the premises and had access to the yard through a dog door ran at the two officers entering the yard. One dog was shot, the other may have been shot but escaped through the gate left open by the officers. She is now loose and possibly injured.

The owner of the dogs was not immediately told about the shootings when she arrived and only discovered the wounded dog when she was allowed into her house. She did not know her other dog had ran off. Officers attempted to retain the owner for "questioning", prohibiting her from taking the injured dog to a vet.

The shot dog is expected to survive. The remaining dog, a black Labrador Retriever remains on the loose, possibly injured. Hopefully, she will be found alive and well.

Northport citizen angered over dog's shooting and care

On September 5th, two dogs got out of the fenced backyard where they were housed. They frightened neighbors, causing one to contact police. When police arrived, one of the dogs charged at the officer. He shot the dog once, the bullet traveling through the dog's ear and into his leg, shattering several bones. Animal control came out and picked up the dog, then let him sit in the shelter through Labor Day weekend without seeking treatment.

The owner has a history of being unable to confine his dogs. The shot dog had escaped previously and been hit by a car. Truly, how these dogs managed to stay alive is rather miraculous, all things considered.

The dog's front leg had to be amputated.

Bozeman officer cleared in dog shooting

Previous entry

In August, a Bozeman police officer shot a dog twice with a shotgun when the dog charged at him. An internal investigation has cleared him of any wrongdoing.

Witness reports:
- Dog had circled and lunged at an individual and their child, sparking the 911 call
- Dog had chased a skateboarder
- One witness claimed the dog was not charging and force was excessive.
- Dog was 6' from officer

The officer claims the dog was charging at him.

The dog was shot twice, then pepper sprayed, then tasered and finally sent to a vet where he

Rutland officer absolved of culpability in shooting of chained dog

Rutland police officer absolved of any wrongdoing in this shooting.

A police review says a Vermont officer was justified when he fatally shot a dog in Rutland.

But the dog's owner, John Ragosta, tells the Rutland Herald he's not convinced Officer Frank Post's actions were legitimate in the Aug. 7 shooting of his German shepherd, "Stooge."

The finding absolves Post of any wrongdoing.

Post and his German shepherd, "King Bricks," were called to assist state police who trailed a truck driving 97 mph to Ragosta's driveway. Police believed the driver fled across Ragosta's yard.

Police say Post's dog was attacked by Stooge. Post used pepper spray and he and a trooper kicked and pulled at the dogs in unsuccessful attempts to break up the fight.

Post said he decided to use lethal force after Ragosta's dog lunged at him.

Note: The Rutland Herald provided information for this report.

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

Kingsport officer shoots and kills one dog, conflicting reports

The "for sure" part is that officers were chasing suspects on foot. One officer ended up at the fence line of a property.

Here's where accounts differ:

Owner of the dog claims there was one dog, his. He claims that his dog was not acting aggressively and was approaching the officer in a curious, but non threatening manner. He says that the officer stepped back over the fence, drew his weapon and shot the dog dead.

The police officer claims there were three dogs and the "fence" was very low. The dogs charged aggressively, the officer drew his weapon and shot one of the dogs, killing him.

Prince George County officers cleared in death of dogs

Officers who shot two dogs to death during a botched no-knock raid have been cleared of any wrongdoing.

Neither dog had been aggressive toward the officers - one dog was shot as he ran away in fear.

You can read more about the raid here. The victims, the mayor of Berwyn Heights (and his wife and mother in law), were cleared of any wrongdoing due to the fact that they hadn't done anything wrong. As part of a drug trafficking scheme, a package of drugs (that SWAT knew about) was left on the stoop of the mayor's home and, when she went to pick it up, moments later her home was raided and life changed.

I don't want to go over more details, except to make a comment on what Sheriff Jackson has to say:

"I'm sorry for the loss of their family pets," Jackson said. "But this is the unfortunate result of the scourge of drugs in our community. Lost in this whole incident was the criminal element. . . . In the sense that we kept these drugs from reaching our streets, this operation was a success."

Sheriff Jackson seems to be forgetting that the package containing drugs had already been intercepted by authorities. That is, police already knew about the package and what it contained. Already, the drugs were safe from public dispersal. The entire raid could have been prevented by confiscating the package and, I don't know, doing a bit of legwork in investigating the mayor...which would have shown he wasn't a drug trafficker.

Instead, police intercepted the package, allowed it to be put on the doorstep of this house, then allowed SWAT (a paramilitary group, people) to raid the home w/ a no-knock warrant. I mean, it's absolutely disingenuous to argue this case is a shining example of preventing the "criminal element" from distributing drugs. It's a shining example of what is wrong with the "drug war" and a disturbing story of how our rights to due process and privacy can so easily be trampled upon.

Dougherty County officer cleared in dog shooting

Last week, a Dougherty County police officer shot a loose dog who had jumped up on him, clawing his leg. While the dog did not bite, he was acting aggressively and territorially.

The man attempted to beat the dog off with a flashlight, to no avail. The owner of the dog could not call him off. Of course, this makes me wonder why the owner didn't just walk over and yank the dog off...but maybe not the classiest of dog owners.

The officer then shot the dog once, causing the dog to run off...and apparently the dog was never found (again, classy dog owner).

Boise officer cleared in shooting of dog

In March, a Boise police officer shot and killed a dog. The dog was on its own property but loose. The dog did charge but did not bite the officer.

The owner of the dog filed a complaint and the officer was cleared in any wrongdoing.

Family of killed dog suing police

In May, a Kerman police officer shot and killed a family pet while investigating a "stolen skateboard" complaint (skateboard not stolen, it turns out). The dog was shot in the middle of a house with several family members present. The dog did growl at the officer but did not bite before being shot twice.

The family is now suing the officer and police department for what they feel was police misconduct, especially considering no charges were filed regarding the alleged stolen property.

Danville police kill 12-lb dog

A 12-lb, 12-yr-old dog was shot and killed by a Danville, VA police officer serving a warrant to a house in the dog owner's neighborhood. The dog was loose and ran aggressively at the officer. According to the officer, the dog bit him and so he shot the dog once, killing him.

Police shoot large dog after attack

A livestock guardian dog was shot to death after he bit his owner. The dog was used to guard chickens and guinea fowl from predators. He had a history of aggression toward people and one incident involving a cat.

There isn't any information on what transpired. All we know is that the dog was acting aggressive when rescue personnel arrived and a police officer shot (at?) the dog six times before the dog died.

Lancaster police shoot dog trotting toward him

ANYWAYS, so we have two dogs who are being let off leash in a field with their owner present. A police officer drives by and notices the dogs. He doesn't bother with them until he notices other people near by and that the owner doesn't pick up his dog's poop. So, officer gets out of cruiser and approaches, asking the owner to put leash his dogs. The owner is leashing one when the other trots over to the officer. The officer screams for the man to leash his dog but doesn't give the owner any time to call him or leash the dog. When the dog gets within 10-feet, the officer draws his gun and shoots the dog in the head. Dog survives.

A witness driving by says that dog did not appear dangerous but appeared friendly and calm. The owner claims that the dog didn't run but trotted. Both the owner and witness wonder why the officer didn't just calmly walk back to his cruiser which was mere feet away.

Or why he didn't let the owner run over and leash his dog.

University of Minnesota police kill loose dogs, flatten tires

The dog was running loose, trying to get away from University of Minnesota police who cornered it in a parking structure. No one reported the dog trying to eat people, just that he was running loose.



When the dog was cornered, an officer attempted to hit the dog with a taser. One of the nodes missed. He lunged at an officer, and another officer shot him multiple times.

Bullet fragments flattened tires.

Toronto officer shoots dog in head

A dog escaped from his yard after being frightened by thunder. The next day, he approached an officer and, according to the officer, the dog attacked. This attack was so severe that the officer was not injured at all. He so destabilized by this dog that he was able to pull out his weapon and fire three shots at the dog, with only one hitting the dog (the bullet lodged in the dog's head).

Then, this dog was so dangerous that he ran away screaming and was easily lured out by his owner and taken to a vet hospital where he was expected to recover.

Ottawa cops cleared of killing dogs

In April, three officers shot and killed two loose dogs. The dogs were being walked by their owner off-leash when they took after a deer. Officers were called when one of the dogs charged a person. One dog may have attempted to attack an officer, at which point the dog was shot at.

The dogs were chased into a large field where, according to officers, the dogs charged aggressively. They were both shot. They were not dead but down and, instead of waiting for a bylaw officer or taking the animals to a vet, the officers decided to shoot each dog once in the head, killing them.

The sequences of events could have been prevented had the dogs been leashed.

3 Chicago Heights officers shoot dog to death

A woman called police when her live-in boyfriend and a relative engaged in a heated argument. When police arrived, three officers entered the home. At some point, one of the dog's got out of his crate and approached officers (walked up or charged, depending on who you ask). According to the dog's owner, the dog stopped and, at that point, was shot a total of eight times. Two of the officers shot once, while a third officer shot the dog six times.

Several of the bullets embedded themselves into the floor, leaving pockmarks. The shooting occurred directly in front of the dog's owner with several other people present.