Police Shoot Charging Dog, Owners Refuse to Let Officers Treat the Dog

March, 2011 - Calgary, Canada -

Officers responding to a noise disturbance in Calgary were faced with an aggressive dog, described as a Rottweiler. Officers requested the dog be put away but instead the door was opened and the dog was allowed out. The dog charged at officers and was shot. Injured, the dog ran back home. Officers then tried to negotiate the release of the dog so they could take him to a veterinarian, but the owner refused. Instead, when the dog finally died, they callously dumped the body outside the house. Nice.

November 2010: Fayatteville Officer Shoots Dog Instead of Shutting Gate Door

Fayatteville

A juvenile dog described as a Rottweiler was left in his backyard and dug out. The dog was running loose and frightened a woman, causing her to lock herself up in her car. A police officer arrived, distracting the dog with his vehicle. When he got out of his patrol car, the dog charged him but then ran into a yard. Instead of shutting the gate, he started to talk with the woman in the car. The dog came back out and I don't know, did what he was doing before, and he was shot twice and killed.

September 2010: Police Kill Dog on Property During Chase

Lexington, Kentucky

Goodness forbid any dog be able to lounge in his backyard without having to worry about being shot by police.

A dog described as a Rottweiler was in his backyard doing dog things when a juvenile suspect entered the yard, followed by a police officer. The dog, doing what dogs on their own property do, bit the officer's uniform. This was such an egregious offense that the dog was shot and killed.

Here's a better article. The dog was TEN years old and had been a family pet since puppyhood. The dog was shot SIX times.

September 2010: Calgary Police Kill loose Dog

A dog described as a Rottweiler was running loose, and had bitten at least one woman.

When police arrived, the dog charged and was shot and killed.

Police Shoot Dog With Assault Rifle

During a stand-off, a dog described as a Rottweiler was loose. In a brilliant stroke, the deputy at the scene got a noose around the dog and asked the dog's owner, who the dog was protecting, to hold her. This was the less brilliant stroke. The deputy had a chance to place the woman and the dog in the back of his cruiser instead of allowing the dog to still be loose. When the dog became more agitated, again, there was an opportunity to put the dog into a vehicle. Instead, the situation escalated, the dog broke from the rope, and the man shot her three times, killing her.

August 2010 - Prince George Sherriff Kill Dog During Eviction Notice

Prince George County, Maryland

A woman in Forest Heights lost her dog when officers served an eviction notice, even though she was already moving her stuff and even though officers knew a dog was on the premises. The dog, described as a Rottweiler, was inside the home - it is unclear whether the dog was in the basement or if the officer entered the basement.

When the dog charged, the officer shot and killed him.

Canadian Police Shoot Dog On Dog's Property

A 9-mos-old dog with a habit of running loose with a pack and, unfortunately, mauling other animals was shot six times and eventually killed by a police officer. The dog was on her property, although the officer did not know that.

There were humans in the house near the shooting and the 12-yr-old daughter witnessed the shooting.

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.

Jeannette, PA

Jeannette, Pennsylvania

A Jeannette dog owner claims that a police officer "overreacted" when he shot and killed a 150-pound Rottweiler that wandered from its yard Saturday.

But police said the shooting was justified because neighbors of the dog, Rocky, were fearful about leaving their homes along Scott Avenue and the canine "lunged" three times at Cpl. Brad Shepler as he and an animal control officer attempted to place the dog in a confinement noose.

"They tried to place the dog in a noose three times, and I have the officer and the animal control officer both telling me that the dog came at them three times," said police Chief Jeff Stahl.

"Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do but put the dog down. We were responding to a call that people and their children were afraid to leave their homes because the dog was running loose there," Stahl said.

But the dog's owner, Bob Petrillo, said Rocky was not vicious and played with neighborhood children.

"I'm not saying the policeman is a bad guy, but in this case I believe there was no need to shoot him and I think the incident needs to be brought to light," said Petrillo, of 707 Scott Ave.

Petrillo said he bathed Rocky about 3:30 p.m. before he laid down to take a nap.

"I guess Rocky jumped up against the door and unlocked the handle door. Rocky went down and played with some neighborhood kids and was crossing the street when police arrived," Petrillo said.

Petrillo said he heard from neighbors that Shepler left his car door open and Rocky jumped inside.

"Why didn't he just close the door and they would have had him contained? Instead, the officer began kicking on the windows and door of the car to get him out and he pooped on the seat and ran," Petrillo said.

Petrillo said Shepler and an animal control officer chased Rocky about one-quarter mile before the shot was fired. He said the dog was shot in the back of his head.

"It's a shame because it was unnecessary," Petrillo said of the shooting of his 22-month-old dog.

However, Stahl said, police have concluded the shooting was justified.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_638820.html

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.

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.

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.

Middletown officer shoots dog that charges him

A dog is dead after running loose, biting one woman and charging an officer.

St. Paul SWAT drug raid and across the pond

A SWAT team in St. Paul shot and killed three dogs during a drug raid. They knew the dogs were present. The fourth dog was confined and left unharmed.

A sad story out of England where two dogs were killed by police while defending their master's body. Their owner had died of natural causes. When paramedics arrived, the dogs were obviously agitated and felt threatened so they stood guard over their owner's body.. One dog was shot and killed instantly, the other ran away. When he was cornered, the dog was tasered and taken to a shelter. Shelter employees claim he was "too aggressive" and he was subsequently euthanized...even though the owner had a partner who would have taken the dog back.

Hurst chief of police seems proud of his dog shooting record

A dog owner in Hurst, Illinois is upset after an officer shot his dog three times, requiring the dog to be euthanized. The dog, an intact female with puppies, began to wander into a parking lot across the street from where she lived. It is there that she was approached by the chief of police. According to the chief, she put her head down and growled. At this point, the chief drew his weapon and shot the dog three times, twice in the shoulder (breaking her shoulder) and once in the neck...she was later euthanized by animal control.

But we soon learn that the chief of police doesn't really have a problem with discharging his weapon into a dog - he's shot three dogs in the past five years. In a town of 800, that's pretty impressive. I mean, comparably, 820 officers in Omaha, Nebraska have killed 39 dogs in one year, 800 officers in Tulsa, OK killed 25. Both Omaha and Tulsa have around 400,000 people. I'll grant that Hurst is probably a lot more rural and may not even have a leash law. Still, it seems that the chief is a smidgen trigger happy when it comes to dogs.

Ector county sheriff responds to dog shooting accusations

Here's the story: Ector County deputy enters a property through an open gate, even though he saw a dog on the property. When the dog charged him, the deputy shot the dog. The dog was still on her property and, technically, the officer did not have permission to be present on the dog owner's property.