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Title: Programmed to kill: The growing epidemic of cops shooting dogs
Source:
Intellihub/Rutherford Institute
URL Source: https://www.intellihub.com/programm ... pidemic-of-cops-shooting-dogs/
Published: Oct 6, 2016
Author: John Whitehead
Post Date: 2016-10-06 07:13:27 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 3259
Comments: 22
“In too much of policing today, officer safety has become the highest priority. It trumps the rights and safety of suspects. It trumps the rights and safety of bystanders. It’s so important, in fact, that an officer’s subjective fear of a minor wound from a dog bite is enough to justify using potentially lethal force, in this case at the expense of a 4-year-old girl. And this isn’t the first time. In January, an Iowa cop shot and killed a woman by mistake while trying to kill her dog. Other cops have shot other kids, other bystanders, their partners, their supervisors and even themselves while firing their guns at a dog. That mind-set is then, of course, all the more problematic when it comes to using force against people.”—Journalist Radley Balko Almost two years after the firestorm that took place in Ferguson, Missouri, when a white police officer shot an unarmed black teenager and militarized police descended in a brutal show of force to quell local protests, not much has really changed for the better. Unarmed Americans are still getting shot by police with alarming regularity. SWAT teams are still bursting through doors, terrorizing families and leaving lives and property shattered. In one incident, a Kansas SWAT team erroneously raided the home of two former CIA analysts after police observed family members shopping at a gardening store and found loose-leaf tea (mistaken for marijuana) in the family’s trash can. And the military industrial complex is still making a killing (literally and figuratively) at taxpayer expense from the transformation of small-town police forces—“kitted out with Marine-issue camouflage and military-grade body armor, toting short-barreled assault rifles, and rolling around in armored vehicles”—into extensions of the military. What has changed is the extent to which Americans—easily distracted by all of the political mumbo jumbo being bantered around—seem to have stopped paying attention or being outraged about revelations of government corruption, wrongdoing and outright abuse. Part of this ignorance can be attributed to the failure of the mainstream media to report on what’s really taking place in the American police state. As The Huffington Post reports, “The media has turned its sights to the heated presidential election, burning through the oxygen that had given life to stories about police brutality and reform.” Another part of this apathy can be chalked up to a widespread desensitization to police violence, thanks to the growing availability and accessibility of surveillance and camera footage. As Salon points out, “the increased visibility of trauma and death at the hands of cops” has resulted in “the deadening of our collective senses.” And yet another part of this indifference seemingly stems from the fact that we just don’t value human life as much as we should. How many Americans seem unconcerned about the carnage inflicted on civilians worldwide as a result of the nation’s bloody, endless wars abroad? As The Washington Post makes clear, the end result of ignoring these civilian casualties and burying memories of war’s destruction is more wars, more blowback, and more innocent blood on our hands. If there’s one area where Americans do seem to still get outraged, it’s in relation to their pets, who occupy a sizeable place in their hearts, homes and wallets. According to newspaper editors, “stories about animal abuse often generate more responses from upset readers than articles about violence directed toward humans.” Reports from police agencies support the claim that “shooting a dog brings more heat down on an agency than an officer-involved shooting of a human.” Prepare to be outraged. A dog is shot by a police officer “every 98 minutes.” The Department of Justice estimates that at least 25 dogs are killed by police every day. The Puppycide Database Project estimates the number of dogs being killed by police to be closer to 500 dogs a day (which translates to 182,000 dogs a year). Because not all police departments keep track of canine shootings, these numbers vary widely. However, whatever the final body count, what we’re dealing with is an epidemic of vast proportions. Incredibly, in 1 out of 5 cases involving police shooting a family pet, a child was either in the police line of fire or in the immediate area of a shooting. The so-called “dangerous” breeds of dogs aren’t the only ones that are being killed in encounters with police either. Journalist Radley Balko has documented countless “dog shootings in which a police officer said he felt ‘threatened’ and had no choice but to use lethal force, including the killing of a Dalmatian (more than once), a yellow Lab , a springer spaniel, a chocolate Lab, a boxer, an Australian cattle dog, a Wheaten terrier, an Akita… a Jack Russell terrier… a 12-pound miniature dachshund… [and] a five-pound chihuahua.” Essentially, police can shoot your dog for any reason or no reason at all. What’s more, the general consensus from the courts thus far has been to absolve police from charges of wrongdoing. Conversely, while police routinely receive little blowback for shooting family pets, shooting a police dog can land you in just as much trouble as if you shoot a human being: for instance, a teenager who shot and killed a police dog received a 23-year prison sentence. Outraged yet? Not to worry. I’m just getting warmed up. Spike, a 70-pound pit bull, was shot by NYPD police when they encountered him in the hallway of an apartment building in the Bronx. Surveillance footage shows the dog, tail wagging, right before an officer shot him in the head at pointblank range. Arzy, a 14-month-old Newfoundland, Labrador and golden retriever mix, was shot between the eyes by a Louisiana police officer. The dog had been secured on a four-foot leash at the time he was shot. An independent witness testified that the dog never gave the officer any provocation to shoot him. Seven, a St. Bernard, was shot repeatedly by Connecticut police in the presence of the dog’s 12-year-old owner. Police, investigating an erroneous tip, had entered the property—without a warrant—where the dog and her owner had been playing in the backyard, causing the dog to give chase. Dutchess, a 2-year-old rescue dog, was shot three times in the head by Florida police as she ran out her front door. The officer had been approaching the house to inform the residents that their car door was open when the dog bounded out to greet him. Yanna, a 10-year-old boxer, was shot three times by Georgia police after they mistakenly entered the wrong home and opened fire, killing the dog, shooting the homeowner in the leg and wounding an investigating officer. Payton, a 7-year-old black Labrador retriever, and 4-year-old Chase, also a black Lab, were shot and killed after a SWAT team mistakenly raided the mayor’s home while searching for drugs. Police shot Payton four times. Chase was shot twice, once from behind as he ran away. “My government blew through my doors and killed my dogs. They thought we were drug dealers, and we were treated as such. I don’t think they really ever considered that we weren’t,” recalls Mayor Cheye Calvo, who described being handcuffed and interrogated for hours—wearing only underwear and socks—surrounded by the dogs’ carcasses and pools of the dogs’ blood. In another instance, a Missouri SWAT team raided a family home, killing a 4-year-old pit bull Kiya. Believe it or not, this time the SWAT raid wasn’t in pursuit of drugs, mistaken or otherwise, but was intended “to check if [the] home had electricity and natural gas service.” Mind you, these are not isolated instances. There are websites, community action organizations and Facebook groups that do nothing but publicize dog shootings by police, and there are a lot of them. One filmmaker, Andrea B. Scott, has even put together a documentary to raise awareness about the epidemic. Clearly, our four-legged friends are suffering at the hands of a police state in which the police have all the rights and the citizenry (and their “civilian” dogs) have little to none. As always, we have to dig down deep to understand why is this happening. Are family dogs really such a menace to police? Are law enforcement agents really so fearful for their safety—and so badly trained—that they have no recourse when they encounter a dog than to shoot? Finally, are police shootings of dogs really any different than police shootings of unarmed citizens? First off, dogs are no greater menace to police than they are to anyone else. After all, as the Washington Post points out, while “postal workers regularly encounter both vicious and gregarious dogs on their daily rounds… letter carriers don’t kill dogs, even though they are bitten by the thousands every year. Instead, the Postal Service offers its employees training on how to avoid bites.” Second, these dog shootings epitomize a larger, societal problem with law enforcement agencies prioritizing an “officer safety” mindset that encourages police to shoot first and ask questions later. We’d have a lot fewer police shootings (of dogs and unarmed citizens) if police weren’t quite so preoccupied with “officer safety” at the expense of all else. As commentator William Norman Grigg pointed out, “A peace officer is paid to assume certain risks, including those necessary to de-escalate a confrontation… A ‘veteran’ deputy with the mindset of a peace officer would have taken more than a shaved fraction of a split-second to open fire on a small male individual readily identifiable as a junior high school student, who was carrying an object that is easily recognizable as a toy—at least to people who don’t see themselves as an army of occupation, and view the public as an undifferentiated mass of menace.” Third, these dog killings are, as Balko recognizes, “a side effect of the new SWAT, paramilitary focus in many police departments, which has supplanted the idea of being an ‘officer of the peace.’” Thus, whether you’re talking about police shooting dogs or citizens, the mindset is the same: a rush to violence, abuse of power, fear for officer safety, poor training in how to de-escalate a situation, and general carelessness. That paramilitary focus has resulted in a government mindset that allows SWAT teams and other government agents to invade your home, break down your doors, kill your dog (the dog always gets shot first), wound or kill you, damage your furnishings and terrorize your family. This is the same mindset that sees nothing wrong with American citizens being subjected to roadside strip searches, forcible blood draws, invasive surveillance, questionable exposure to radiation and secret government experiments, and other morally reprehensible tactics. Unfortunately, this is a mindset that is flourishing within the corporate-controlled, military-driven American police state. So what’s to be done about all of this? In terms of our four-legged friends, many states are adopting laws to make canine training mandatory for police officers. As dog behavior counselor Brian Kilcommons noted, officers’ inclination to “take command and take control” can cause them to antagonize dogs unnecessarily. Officers “need to realize they’re there to neutralize, not control… If they have enough money to militarize the police with Humvees, they have enough money to train them not to kill family members. And pets are considered family.” Frankly, police should also be made to undergo classes annually on how to peacefully resolve and de-escalate situations with the citizenry. While they’re at it, they should be forced to de-militarize. No one outside the battlefield—and barring a foreign invasion, the U.S. should never be considered a domestic battlefield—should be equipped with the kinds of weapons and gear being worn and used by local police forces today. If the politicians are serious about instituting far-reaching gun control measures, let them start by taking the guns and SWAT teams away from the countless civilian agencies that have nothing to do with military defense that are packing lethal heat. Finally, there will be no end to the bloodshed—of unarmed Americans or their family pets—until police stop viewing themselves as superior to those whom they are supposed to serve and start acting like the peace officers they’re supposed to be. Ultimately, this comes down to better—and constant—training in nonviolent tactics, serious consequences for those who engage in excessive force, and a seismic shift in how the law enforcement agencies and the courts deal with those who transgress. As I point out in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, when you’re trained to kill anything that poses the slightest threat (imagined or real), when you’ve been instructed to view yourself as a soldier and those you’re supposed to serve as enemy combatants on a battlefield, when you can kill and there are no legal consequences for your actions, and when you are deemed immune from lawsuits holding you accountable for the use of excessive force, then it won’t matter what gets in your way. Whether it’s a family pet, a child with a toy gun, or an old man with a cane—you’re going to shoot to kill.
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BROWN DEER -- Two teen girls are recovering after they were attacked by two pit bulls near 48th and Dean in Brown Deer Thursday, September 29th. Both dogs were shot by a police officer -- one died. First responders surrounded a home in the area as two 14-year-old girls were taken away on stretchers and police investigated in the front yard. Police say the dogs lived in the home with one of the girls and just before 4:30 p.m., the two dogs attacked the girls. "I feel sorry for them," said Cheryl Christensen, neighbor. Christensen said she has seen at least one of the dogs before. "I was walking down 48th Street here, and then all of a sudden a dog ran out of a vehicle," said Christensen. As she walked her dogs Mila and Maxine Wednesday, one of the pit bulls lunged toward them. "Like a mother, I screamed because I'm worried about these girls getting hurt," said Chistensen. The dog eventually ran away. "I'm just so glad the guy was there and called them back," said Christensen. On Thursday, the girls at the home were not as lucky. Police say when they arrived, an officer shot one dog to protect the girls. That's when they say the other pit bull tried to attack and that dog was shot. One dog died at the scene. The other was turned over the Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control (MADACC). The dog's owner requested it be euthanized. The girls suffered serious but non-life threatening injuries. They were treated at the scene, and then taken to the hospital. http://fox6now.com/2016/09/29/2- girls-taken-to-hospital-after-dog-attack-in-brown-deer/.
No one has claimed that there are no situations where police are justified in shooting violent dogs. The so-called “dangerous” breeds of dogs aren’t the only ones that are being killed in encounters with police either. Journalist Radley Balko has documented countless “dog shootings in which a police officer said he felt ‘threatened’ and had no choice but to use lethal force, including the killing of a Dalmatian (more than once), a yellow Lab , a springer spaniel, a chocolate Lab, a boxer, an Australian cattle dog, a Wheaten terrier, an Akita… a Jack Russell terrier… a 12-pound miniature dachshund… [and] a five-pound chihuahua.” Essentially, police can shoot your dog for any reason or no reason at all. What’s more, the general consensus from the courts thus far has been to absolve police from charges of wrongdoing. Conversely, while police routinely receive little blowback for shooting family pets, shooting a police dog can land you in just as much trouble as if you shoot a human being: for instance, a teenager who shot and killed a police dog received a 23-year prison sentence. Outraged yet? On May 19, just before 7:30 p.m. Gary Jones was enjoying a peaceful evening at home on Francis Street. And then that was disturbed. “I heard the most terrible screams I ever heard,” he said. He ran outside, down the block and around the corner to Perry Street, where he saw Rachael Hyam being put on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance. Her dog, Charley, a mini-poodle puppy, was in the hands of a neighbor who was taking it to Brookline Animal hospital. Other neighbors were consoling a young dog walker. And someone was holding a brown Rhodesian ridgeback mix to keep him from escaping - or attacking - again. Jones' wife was in shock. Emergency crews arrived quickly, but neighbors and Hyam were not happy with how the incident was handled by the police – though police, and the town's lawyer said they followed protocol. Now, four months later, Jones wants to make sure residents are aware when what he calls vicious dog attacks happen in their neighborhood and that every police officer knows how to respond to a dog attack call. To that end, he's filed a Town Meeting warrant, which will be considered next month. The attack Jones’s wife told him how while walking their dog, Yogi, she ran into Hyam. She asked if she could pet Hyam's dog and the two got into a conversation. At some point, she saw a brown dog running toward them from behind Hyam. She told Hyam to turn around because of the dog. The ridgeback mix seemed to run straight for Charley and attacked, she said. Hyam reached down and picked up her puppy, holding him to her chest, but the bigger dog continued trying to get at Charley. She tried pushing the attacking dog away and made her way up the walkway of the home where they had been standing. With both Hyam and Jones screaming at the dog, which kept biting and lunging at her neck, neighbors came out to see what was going on. Paul Nguyen who lives across the way grabbed a shovel whacked the big dog to distract it. Then Nguyen and another neighbor, Nancy Michael, pulled the dog off Hyam. Eliot Gilwan restrained it, while someone else called the police. Neighbors seem to be in consensus about how the attack unfolded. Someone took photos of Hyams injuries, but the TAB was not able to obtain those images. The Brookline police chief and the town counsel both acknowledged the seriousness of the attack at a recent meeting at town hall. Call to 911 The first call came to Brookline dispatch at 7:29 p.m. Dispatch simply noted in the log there was a dog attack on Perry Street by a loose dog and the woman had some “cuts.” Seven minutes later another call came in reporting the attack. Officer Robert Mayer responded because the Animal Control officer –there’s only one in town – doesn’t work evenings. Mayer told the chief that, when he arrived, the scene was chaotic, but there was no aggressive dog in sight. There were signs of an incident, and neighbors directed him to where Hyam was laying down, holding her dog. Fallon Ambulance and the fire department provided first aid and put Hyam into the ambulance. The officer spoke with the boy who was walking the dog accused of attacking Hyam. The teen told the officer the ridgeback mix had broken free of his leash several times that day, causing him to chase it through yards. According to the police report, the boy said the ridgeback had begun to attack another dog before setting on Charley and Hyam. When the officer later called the owner of the dog, she told him she’d never had any problems with either of her dogs or the dog walker. ‘What do we do about this dog?’ Jones said when the police officer arrived he ordered everyone to leave. “What are you going to do about this violent, mad dog?," Jones said he asked the officer. He said the officer told him he wasn’t the animal control officer, so it wasn’t his responsibility. Neighbors said he didn't call for backup, and he didn't take interview statements at that time. “The officer left us in the neighborhood to control that dangerous dog,” he said. “It’s a big concern in our neighborhood. It was a terrible incident where Rachel was almost killed. And the indifference of the police is what disturbed us.” Jones said he was confused with why the dog that had just attacked a neighbor was permitted to return home, though Brookline Police Chief Daniel O’Leary said that’s what Brookline’s law allows and, although he's not the Animal Control Officer, all officers should know that regulation. Town Counsel Joslin Murphy said a police officer can detain a dog, but that's left up to the their judgment "There are several mitigating factors. If there was no one available to restrain the dog, if the dog were in the act of being menacing or aggressive that might be a circumstance for an officer to impound the dog. Of course the point is to make sure the dog is properly restrained," she said. The officer on duty filed his report and turned the case over to the Animal Control Officer, per protocol, who then conducted interviews. Following the police investigation, the police ordered the dog be muzzled every time it left the house for 180 days, as per town bylaw. But Jones and other neighbors say that wasn’t enough. Kill the dog? Jones is trying to bring the issue before Town Meeting and Hyam’s husband is requesting a dangerous dog hearing before town officials, petitioning to put the dog down. “We haven’t had a hearing on a dangerous dog in a long time,” said O’Leary adding that the last such hearing might have been more than a decade ago, even though there are a number of dog bites reported on a weekly basis. “It seemed to me this woman was injured more severely than what we see with a normal dog bite call.” Still, he said, although residents wanted the officer to take the dog away or shoot it, that’s not how the law works. “There’s a process you have to go through to remove a dog like that. We still have to follow the protocol – which is just what the animal control officer did,” he said. There are some factors the police have to investigate that might influence how the dog is handled, he said, including that the dog ran away from a dog walker, not the owner and that this was a first time offense for the dog in Brookline. A dangerous dog hearing is the next step, he said. An official, most likely Alan Balsam of the health department, will hold a hearing per the request of residents, and listen to both sides of the story to determine whether the dog should be deemed officially “dangerous.” Murphy said he can recommend a number of things at the end of the hearing, including euthanasia. To Hyam, there’s no question. It took her weeks before she would leave her house after she returned home from the hospital. And now she won’t leave unless she’s got pepper spray and a baseball bat – just in case. "It’s not that I hate that dog or I want that dog to die, but something is wrong with him," she said.
Not relevant to the topic originally posted in the article. No one is claiming that some dogs are not violent, so you can stop your egregious pontificating. The point of the article is that cops are basically either cowards or sadists when it comes to their encounters with family pets - try and grasp that simple concept instead of going nolu spam on the thread, OK pumpkin? First off, dogs are no greater menace to police than they are to anyone else. After all, as the Washington Post points out, while “postal workers regularly encounter both vicious and gregarious dogs on their daily rounds… letter carriers don’t kill dogs, even though they are bitten by the thousands every year. Instead, the Postal Service offers its employees training on how to avoid bites.” DALLAS — A deep growl came from the other side of Shaniqua Roland's front door. She was pregnant at the time and headed to a doctor's appointment, but she knew she couldn't leave the house. Not with the dogs back. For half an hour, as she tried to shoo them away, a pack of pit bulls snarled and snapped at her metal door. She thought of her sister, who'd recently lost a chunk of her calf in a dog attack. She'd see her doctor another day. "It's crazy," Roland said, sighing. "I don't walk outside anymore. No way." Across the low-income, predominantly black and Latino neighborhoods of southern Dallas, so many stray, sometimes vicious dogs roam the streets that many residents have given up on going outside with-out a bat or pipe for protection. Some carry pepper spray. It’s been a problem for years, Roland said. The daughter she was pregnant with when trapped in her home is now 2. But a tipping point came in May, when at least four dogs fatally attacked Antoinette Brown, 52, in an overgrown lot just across the street from Roland's home. The mauling was so vicious — fang marks dotted her body and a chunk of a biceps was missing — that a police officer compared it to a shark attack. After that, Dallas officials hired a consulting firm, which released a report this summer estimating that nearly 9,000 loose dogs live south of Interstate 30 — the separation line in the largely segregated city. Consultants drove around the city several days this summer and spotted strays of all sizes and breeds in southern Dallas. A few pit bulls, but also a small, fluffy gray dog and a sleek black one with white paws. Councilman Casey Thomas, who grew up in and represents a swath of southern Dallas, said the area had been "plagued" by loose dogs for as long as he could remember. "It's a huuuge problem," he said, stretching the vowel for emphasis. "People walking with sticks and golf clubs? That's a quality-of-life issue." The problem is almost entirely in southern Dallas, a situation Thomas attributes to lower spay and neutering rates as well as a shortage of veterinary clinics in the poorer neighborhoods. Residents say some of the dogs get left behind after people are evicted, with others dumped into the neighborhood by people from other parts of town. Since Brown's death, Thomas said, Dallas Animal Services has rounded up strays and increased patrols in problem areas. The city also assigned a deputy police chief to tackle the problem. During a news conference a few days after five Dallas policemen were fatally shot at a protest in July, Police Chief David Brown cited the loose-dog problem as one of many "societal failures" that police are now being asked to solve. And there's no quick fix. Essicka Wilson, 40, said she heard a desperate scream from outside her red-brick home in southern Dallas in July. "Stooooooop!" she heard a woman shout. "Get away!" Another attack. This time the woman survived. A few days after the mauling, the family of the woman who was bitten dozens of times told Dallas television station KFAA that she had been released from the hospital and would recover. People shouldn't have to live like this, Wilson said, adding that she shouldn't have to worry about her children playing in the front yard or about what might happen to her Chihuahua named Abraham — Ham, for short — if other dogs sneak into her yard. She said she has had nightmares about a pack of dogs descending on her as she walks to the car. In her dream, she tries to sprint but her rheumatoid arthritis hobbles her. The dogs catch her. "Dogs didn't used to be like that," she said, shaking her head. "So vicious." But Rekka Melby of the Street Dog Project, a Dallas nonprofit group focused on rescuing animals from a neighborhood in southern Dallas, said it was "extremely rare" to find a ferocious dog on the streets. That certainly hasn't been true, she said, of any of the 45 dogs rescued since the group started in March, describing the canines instead as a bit skittish and eager for consistency. "They just need to get in a home and they're fine," she said. The group focuses on spending time in the neighborhood, talking to people about spay and neutering and helping with small tasks such as patching holes in fences dogs might use to escape. "We're looking for people in the neighborhood who want to help the animals, and then they can pay it forward," Melby said. Back at Roland's house, she had just gotten off the phone with city officials on a recent morning — the third time in as many days. She wanted Dallas Animal Services to know she had spotted more dogs. Sometimes, in the quiet moments when no dogs are around, Roland sits on her porch staring across the street at the abandoned lot. There, tucked between a small white cross and orange tulips made of cloth, is a note to Antoinette Brown from her daughter. "I really don't understand why this had to happen to my mom," it reads. "I just hope you're in heaven watching down on us. ... Happy Birthday, Mom." http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Vicious-stray-dog-attacks- leave-Dallas-9232201.php.
Police say an officer put four bullets into a dog after it attacked a man holding a baby in a Sandy Hill park then turned toward the fallen child. But the owner of the dead dog is asking why non-lethal measures weren’t tried, and is offering a different version of the Friday night incident. Patsy Stevens said the whole thing transpired so quickly she’s still trying to piece it all together. She knows her son’s dog, Lance, a three-year-old Rottweiler-bull mastiff mix, broke free from her control, ran to a packed public park and grabbed onto a piece of a man’s clothing. She said the dog wasn’t acting like his usual self. But, she alleges she wasn’t given a chance to get the animal back under control before a police officer opened fire and put it down. “It just all happened so fast,” said Stevens. “I had to ask the police, ‘Was this really necessary?’ And the police said, ‘Ma’am, this isn’t like Hollywood.'” Police say the incident began shortly before 7 p.m. on Wiggins Private, near Mann Avenue and Chapel Street, when the dog slipped off its leash and attacked a man holding a child. “The dog jumped at the man, who moved to act as a shield for the child,” said Staff-Sgt. Frank D’Aoust. The man was bitten on the buttocks and the hand, and the baby fell to the ground, police say. A constable on patrol came upon the scene and “noticing the dog turn towards the boy, attempted to distract the dog and placed himself in between the dog and the victim” police said in a statement. Police said the dog’s apparent owner tried to collar the animal but was unsuccessful. The dog made a movement toward the child on the ground and the officer fired four times, hitting the dog with each shot, according to police. The man did not appear to be seriously injured but was taken to the Civic campus of the Ottawa Hospital for treatment. The baby boy suffered a bruise to his forehead from the fall. Stevens said Lance had been cooped up all day in her family’s home in the 200 block of Wiggins Private. Stevens home is across the street from a basketball court which has a large communal area where Lance would go for walks. The area was busy Friday night, with between 25 and 30 people there, according to witnesses. When Stevens opened the door, Lance bolted toward the park. The dog was too big for her to hold back, weighing well more than 100 pounds. It ran toward the people and, according to Stevens, that’s when one man in particular began to scream. According to Stevens, the screams attracted the animal. A police cruiser was passing by just as Lance got to the park. According to Stevens, the officer slammed on the brakes and leapt from the car. Stevens said she rounded the cruiser and saw what she describes as Lance tugging on a piece of the man’s clothing. The man was lying on the ground. Stevens said she wasn’t aware he was cradling a baby. The police officer immediately opened fire in the busy park, firing four bullets into the dog. “He has never bit anyone before, but he is a hyper dog,” she said. “He hit him twice (with bullets) and Lance yelped so bad. Then came two more shots.” Stevens said she wasn’t given the opportunity to try to calm Lance. She said she can’t understand why police didn’t deploy a Taser or other non-lethal measures, such as a baton. She has been told Ottawa bylaw officers will be looking into the incident in the coming days. Ottawa Staff-Sgt D’Aaoust also said that a review is “normally done” in any incident involving a police officer discharging a firearm. http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/ottawa-policeman-shoots-dog- after-it-attacks-man-with-baby.
GARNER - The Town Council here is expected to make some changes to its “dangerous dog” ordinance, after a Garner man called on them to provide stiffer penalties for dog owners whose dogs attack people and other dogs. His son and grandson were attacked by their neighbor’s dog last June, sending both to the hospital. Under the current ordinance, when a dog attacks someone or another pet on private or public property, and the officer determines there is evidence to support the claim, the animal will be classified as “dangerous.” The owner must then keep the dog in a “humane, secure enclosure,” and post a visible sign warning people that there is a dangerous dog at the home. From there the penalties get stiffer if there are other incidents. The proposed changes to the ordinance, however, won’t necessarily create stiffer penalties for first-time offenders, as the resident, Cleve Avery, suggested the council do. The changes instead close current loopholes in the ordinance, create stiffer penalties for dogs already declared dangerous, and would add another element to determine whether a dog is dangerous before it actually attacks someone. Dogs can be declared “dangerous” in Garner for three reasons: If the dog attacks or bites someone and inflicts serious injury without provocation on public or private property, if it kills or injures a pet without provocation, or if it’s trained or kept primarily for dogfighting. The council is expected to add “if the dog has approached a person on his or her property in a vicious or terrorizing manner.” There have been six dog bites reported since 2014. Five incidents include the dogs biting other dogs, and the last incident involved the Averys being bitten. Cleve Avery said his son, Gregory Avery, had walked a few doors down to his neighbor’s house to let her know that he would cut her grass. Gregory Avery’s son was with him. Gregory Avery knocked on his neighbor’s door on Turner Street. As the neighbor opened her door, her dog darted out. The dog ran past Gregory Avery and toward the 6-year-old who was standing at the edge of the driveway. The dog attacked the 6-year-old biting him on the back of his head. Gregory Avery tried to get the dog off his son, and was also bitten. The young boy suffered puncture wounds to his head and buttocks. Gregory Avery suffered lacerations to his legs. His injuries kept him out of work for a month. Other changes in the ordinance include closing loopholes. The current ordinance requires people to put signs in their yards that indicate there is a dangerous dog on the property. The rule was worded in such a way that someone could create a sign so small, that no one could see it. The council will now require “dangerous dog” owners to create a sign that is one foot by two feet or two square feet in area and create a minimum font size. The council also may require “dangerous dog” owners to install microchips in their dogs, so if the dog is at large and is located, police would be able to determine whether the dog was declared dangerous. And if that dog was declared dangerous and at large, the owner would be assessed a penalty or have the dog confiscated. The ordinance will also include language that requires “dangerous dog” owners to allow animal control officers to determine if the owner has completed or is maintaining the requirements to get the animal back. The changes will be voted on at a future town council meeting. Council members made sure to emphasize that the changes to the ordinance will not be specific to a dog breed. Council member Gra Singleton said there was a idea years ago to look at banning pit bulls. But residents didn’t allow that idea to get far. “The behavior of the owner has a lot to do with the behavior of the dog,” Singleton said. “Amen,” council members Buck Kennedy and Kathy Behringer added. http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/community/garner-cleveland- record/article105291591.html.
What was meant to be a reminder to Spencer residents became a major topic of discussion during Tuesday's Spencer City Council meeting. City Attorney Don Hemphill reminded Spencer residents of the legal consequences when a dog bites someone. "Too many dog bites have come to the attention of the city attorney's office," Hemphill said, noting that two such instances occurred last Friday. Hemphill continued, "Under city ordinances, you may not keep a dog that has bitten a person or an animal when it was unprovoked. That's a violation. Why dog owners want to keep creatures like this, who imperil their kids and their neighbor's kids and passersby, I completely don't understand." Hemphill went on to say that owners are liable for damages caused by their dogs under state law. Mayor Reynold Peterson asked Spencer Police Chief Mark Warburton whether one of the dogs involved in the Friday attacks had previously bitten someone months prior. "The one that I'm familiar with came after one of our officers and it was subsequently tased," Warburton said. "At that time, that person was charged with vicious animals. After that, I have no idea what the disposition of that charge came later down the line. But this is the second animal." Police records confirmed that a dog belonging to the same owner attacked a police officer on Nov. 17, 2015, and a postal carrier on Sept. 2. Peterson asked Hemphill how a dog, which had attacked before, would be allowed to stay in the city to bite again. Hemphill indicated he would look into the matter further. "I think the first one wasn't a bite because, fortunately, the officer had his Taser," Hemphill said. Later, Ward 5 Councilman Ron Hanson, who is also a postal carrier, noted that he had been involved in a dog attack last year and asked Warburton to explain the process of documenting dog bites, noting that citizens don't usually carry Tasers. "When a dog bites somebody or something, we charge the owner with vicious animals. That charge then goes over to the magistrate to deem that dog as per-say vicious and that's when we go ahead and ask for the court order to have it removed at that time. So it's not something that instantaneously happens just because the dog has bitten someone. There is that due process," Warburton said. "But are we keeping documentation?" Hanson asked. "Absolutely," Warburton responded. "Because a year ago, we went through the same situation. I knew a young man in high school was walking down the street, got bit, tore his pants. Two weeks later, I get bit. Three weeks later, that dog attacks another person with a dog. So that dog has three (attacks)," Hanson said. "To me the fine needs to come out every time, first time. Hanson indicated that fines have not been given in all circumstances. "Now the fine alone is a nonscheduled fine. That is not something that we set and say, 'OK, today it's going to be a $250 fine.' It's not set by us. They have to go and appear in front of the magistrate and then we take our chances in court, just like everybody else, as far as getting that conviction. So sometimes we try and seek other remedies to go ahead and get that dog removed," Warburton said. Hanson then turned to Hemphill. "In that situation, Don, could the council put a fee on that of $200 or $250 so we don't have to go to the magistrate? Can we put it as a civil infraction?" Hanson asked. "No," Hemphill responded, "The bottom line is you still have to prove it to the magistrate if the defendant pleads not guilty." Hanson then expressed his frustration upon learning that a dog which had previously attacked a police officer had bitten a fellow postal carrier who, as a consequence, would not be able to work for some time. "It obviously was a vicious dog," Hanson said. Hanson continued, "We're held responsible, even as carriers. We could get fired because we weren't observant. That carrier could go under repercussion because of doing unsafe things. I don't think that's going to happen but there's always that possibility in our field that the administration or the post office feels that you did something or you didn't protect yourself. So then we have to fight to keep their job. Why should that carrier be worrying about saving their job because of a vicious dog? People don't realize what consequences it has for these people's livelihood." Pete Nowacki, a spokesperson with the U.S. Postal Service, noted that any accident involving a carrier is reviewed and that each situation is different. He did note that carriers are trained to deal with aggressive animals on the job, carry repellant and are taught to use their satchels as a tool to defend against bites. Nowacki also said that in the last several years, there have been three cases of a carrier in Spencer being bitten and many other incidents that did not result in bites. Nowacki said that the Postal Service works with customers when an animal related incident occurs. However, if a solution cannot be found, the decision may be made to curtail mail delivery. Peterson said that, to his knowledge, the dog in question had jumped through a screened window to attack the carrier. "I don't see how (the carrier) can be found liable on that," Peterson said. Ward 4 Councilman Randy Swanson asked how long it takes to appear before the magistrate after the vicious animal charge is given. "First of all, they get an initial appearance. So within a month or so they'll go in, see the magistrate and plead guilty or not guilty. It may be a month, two months or three months later before it gets scheduled to go in front of the magistrate. So you may have a four-month turnaround before you ever see anything," Warburton. "It's safe to say that dog will not ever bite anybody again, correct?" City Manager Bob Fagen asked Warburton. "Correct," Warburton said. Remarks on the relevant police report show that, after Friday's attack, the owner decided to euthanize the dog on Tuesday.
Corbin woman was cited to Whitley District Court last Friday after her pit bull dog attacked a man and his dog that were walking along 17th Street. Corbin Police Major Rob Jones, the department’s public affairs officer, said Lt. James Miller cited Samieyra Spicer, of 401 17th, Street for one count of harboring a vicious animal. Police were called to the scene near Corbin Intermediate School at about 5:25 p.m. The victim of the attack, James Hill, of Corbin, told police that he was walking his dog on the sidewalk near the school across the street from Spicer’s home. “The porch was kind of fenced in,” Miller said. “Hill’s dog started barking and Spicer tried to hold the pit bull back but couldn’t.” Miller said the pit bull bit Hill’s dog multiple times and bit Hill as he attempted to get it off of his dog. Miller said the pit bull remains with Spicer as neither Corbin Police nor Whitley County Animal Control have the facilities to quarantine the dog. Under Kentucky Law, the charge is a misdemeanor carrying a potential sentence of up to one year in jail. https://www.thenewsjournal.net/owner-cited- pitbull-attacks-man-walking-dog-corbin/.
Outraged yet? Not to worry. I’m just getting warmed up.
Enough with the irrelevant spam nolu. None of what you have posted has disproven the fact that cops shoot innocent family pets at the rate of one every 98 minutes. Your rambling, circumlocutory and periphrastic posts have not done anything but to display your penchant for off-topic, cut and paste spam screeds and show your lack of original thought and have nothing to do with the fact that ...these dog killings are “a side effect of the new SWAT, paramilitary focus in many police departments, which has supplanted the idea of being an ‘officer of the peace.’” Thus, whether you’re talking about police shooting dogs or citizens, the mindset is the same: a rush to violence, abuse of power, fear for officer safety, poor training in how to de-escalate a situation, and general carelessness. ***** We're done here queerbait, unless you can show that you are capable of staying on-topic. Look you ignorant fuck - sometimes police are justified in shooting family pets. That doesn't justify the shooting of thousands of docile non threatening animals. Oh, that's right - to you and others of your cop-worshiping ilk, police are gods and can do no wrong. Lick those jack-boots slave. I have a unique perspective on this subject. Im not a cop but I do visit people all year round and the biggest issue is dogs and more specifically pits. The people use them as a weapon or a way to intimidate people. Its really only been in the last 10 years has it been a major issue. Before that it was only in the poor drug infested areas used by drug gangs. Now every man child wants them because its cool. Kinda like owning a lion or tiger until it attacks someone. These dogs(pits) will attack for no reason and if there is more than one they will hunt in packs. So when cops or anyone kills a pit its one less pit that will harm a human or other animals.
Who gets to determine when a dog is docile non-threatening? You and the cop-hating authors of the Yellow Journalism article you post, or the cop? I say the cop makes the determination...
Common fucking sense - which is a quality so many cops fail to possess. Yellow Journalism The article I posted here is chock full of facts you bloviating simpleton. I say the cop makes the determination... Yeah - it must give the cop an erection when he kills a five-pound dog. No doubt, since that seems to be one of the perks of being a murderous thug. ‘Do Not Resist’: A chilling look at the normalization of warrior cops .....in a police training conference with Dave Grossman, one of the most prolific police trainers in the country. Grossman’s classes teach officers to be less hesitant to use lethal force, urge them to be willing to do it more quickly and teach them how to adopt the mentality of a warrior. Jeronimo Yanez, the Minnesota police officer who shot and killed Philando Castille in July, had attended one of Grossman’s classes called “The Bulletproof Warrior” (though that particular class was taught by Grossman’s business partner, Jim Glennon). In the class recorded for “Do Not Resist,” Grossman at one point tells his students that the sex they have after they kill another human being will be the best sex of their lives. The room chuckles. But he’s clearly serious. “Both partners are very invested in some very intense sex,” he says. “There’s not a whole lot of perks that come with this job. You find one, relax and enjoy it.” Sick disgusting sub-human filth. That you cower down before these pricks speaks volumes about your submissive fealty and pathological authority fetish. Honestly, you are just as bad as the cops you slavishly defend. A south Florida genius was bitten in the ass by his own dog after siccing it on police. The law enforcement officers were looking for a burglary suspect and stopped 25 year old Avery Davis who matched the description of the perp for questioning. The suspect – who had his pet with him – then fled on foot while instructing his animal to attack the cops. The dog however had other ideas. According to the Palm Beach Post “Riviera police: Man bitten by own pit bull while fleeing from officers”: However, the dog apparently had other ideas. Davis’ pit bull bit him in the buttocks and tried to bite his head before Davis ran and hid in a nearby apartment complex, according to a police arrest report made public Tuesday. The 26-year-old Riviera Beach man eventually was caught in the 1500 block of West 29th Street. He was arrested on two counts of aggravated assault on a law- enforcement officer and one count resisting an officer with violence. He remained in custody Tuesday at the Palm Beach County Jail. The scene reportedly unfolded shortly before 8 a.m. Monday. According to the report, police officers were in the area investigating a reported burglary in the 2300 block of Avenue S. Officers observed Davis, who matched the description of the suspect. He reportedly was carrying hair care products. Officers ordered Davis to lay on the ground. He did so while hugging the dog. Davis reportedly told officers, “Y’all gonna have to kill us” before getting up and running away. An officer fired a stun at Davis, temporarily knocking him back to the ground. Davis reportedly got up and ran again. As officers pursued, Davis released the dog from its leash and yelled, “Kill ’em boy, kill ’em,” while pointing at the officers, the report said. http://downtrend.com/donn- marten/florida-dummy-sics-pit-bull-on-cop-dog-attacks-him-instead.
A “good shoot” by a cop and typical psychotic reactions from the low-life cop- hating libertarian scum with whom you associate: One of the threats involved shooting the children of the officer in question, KWTV-TV reported. Wynnewood Police Chief Ken Moore told the station that he’s concerned about the threats, especially in light of police officers being killed in recent attacks. “We do want to tell the family that we’re very sorry that this happened,” Moore told the station. The officer was serving a warrant for a man whose last known address was listed as the family’s address. Moore told KWTV that the officer didn’t realize the dog — a bulldog-pit bull mix — was around the corner. “He said the dog came at him. He kicked it back,” Moore told the station. “The dog came at him again, and he was forced to shoot him.” Vickie Malone said her family was celebrating a birthday that day and that several kids were inside the house when the shooting occurred. “We hear a bang,” a tearful Malone told KWTV. “My son looked out the window, and he said ‘Mom, something is wrong with Opie.’” Rushing outside, the family saw Opie gasping for breath on the gravel, Malone told the station, adding that they asked the officer to put the dog out of his misery. So the officer got a rifle from his patrol car and shot the dog again, Malone added. “We have a right to defend ourselves, so I stand by my officer in the decision that he made,” Moore told KWTV, noting that his officer believed the dog was vicious. Malone told the station the children witnessed Opie getting shot the second time: “My kids were all lined up at the window watching.” Opie belonged to one of the boys, a 5-year-old, who told KWTV he “really loved him so much, but I want him to come back alive.” The kids made a cross for Opie and buried him in the backyard, the station reported.
Let's hope that someone makes good on that threat. The officer was serving a warrant for a man whose last known address was listed as the family’s address. Oh wait - you mean the cops went to the wrong house and the suspect didn't even live there? Thanks for proving the point of the original article. Malone said the officer initially told her the dog had lunged at him through the fence. According to the Wynnewood police chief, the dog charged the officer. While he declined our multiple requests for a recorded interview, Chief Ken Moore said the officer told him the dog was vicious and attacked him by coming around the corner of the house. Moore said the officer tried to kick the dog off him once and then shot him. However, the chief said he had not seen video of the aftermath of the shooting which was provided to FOX 25. The video shows the dead dog with a gunshot wound to his head lying near the fence, not near the house. Oh - the dog lunged at him from behind a fence, then the lying prick changed his story to cover his worthless ass? yeah that sounds about right. Yeah - that looks like a real scary dog - surprised the cowardly badged thug didn't piss his pants. Deckard: Let's hope that someone makes good on that threat. The “death wish” you just made on this Oklahoma police officer is a despicable form of extreme speech. It is far beyond the pale of civility with a gross imposition exceeding the norms in public discourse. How can you possibly “hope” for the death of an Oklahoma police officer….how can you do that? Fred Mertz squealed like a stuck pig to Stone about GrandIsland and got GrandIsland suspended for 15 days. Let’s see if Fred starts squealing to Stone this time. How about it. Fred? After Stone suspended GrandIsland, Stone posted that we don’t “make death wishes” on LF as an explanation for his action against GrandIsland. Yet here you are, Deckard, doing what Stone said “we” are not to do. Obviously you care as little about the civility on Stone’s forum as you do the life of an Oklahoma police officer. That is sad….it really is sad. Shame on you, Deckard, for that extremely disgraceful post….shame on you.
Deckard: Let's hope that someone makes good on that threat. Stone should be consistent on this. I believe he's banned people in the past for such posts. Yup, he has. I'm the infidel... Allah warned you about. كافر المسلح
Deckard: Let's hope that someone makes good on that threat. Stone should be consistent on this. I believe he's banned people in the past for such posts. Yup, he has. Let me know if he becomes consistent ...
https://gab.ai/
#2. To: Gatlin (#1)
(Edited)
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards."
#3. To: Deckard (#0)
#4. To: Gatlin (#3)
(Edited)
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards."
#5. To: Deckard (#4)
#6. To: Deckard (#5)
#7. To: Deckard (#6)
#8. To: Deckard (#7)
#9. To: Deckard (#8)
#10. To: Deckard (#0)
#11. To: Gatlin (#8)
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards."
#12. To: Gatlin (#10)
(Edited)
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards."
#13. To: Deckard (#0)
#14. To: Deckard (#12)
That doesn't justify the shooting of thousands of docile non threatening animals.
#15. To: Gatlin (#14)
(Edited)
Who gets to determine when a dog is docile non-threatening?
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards."
#16. To: Deckard (#15)
As Avery Davis ran from Riviera Beach police officers Monday morning, he released his pit bull and directed the animal to attack the officers, according to authorities.
Another day, another dumb criminal, certainly a common species in the sunshine state.
#17. To: Deckard (#15)
An Oklahoma police department has received several death threats after one of its officers fatally shot a family’s 3-year-old dog last weekend.
#18. To: Gatlin (#17)
(Edited)
An Oklahoma police department has received several death threats after one of its officers fatally shot a family’s 3-year-old dog last weekend.
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards."
#19. To: Deckard, Fred Mertz, GrandIsland (#18)
(Edited)
An Oklahoma police department has received several death threats after one of its officers fatally shot a family’s 3-year-old dog last weekend.
Do you ever, ever stop to think about what you are going to post before posting it?
#20. To: Gatlin, A K A Stone (#19)
An Oklahoma police department has received several death threats after one of its officers fatally shot a family’s 3-year-old dog last weekend.
#21. To: GrandIsland, A K A Stone (#20)
(Edited)
An Oklahoma police department has received several death threats after one of its officers fatally shot a family’s 3-year-old dog last weekend.
#22. To: Gatlin (#19)
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