Title: Instead of Shooting a Dog that Just Bit Him, This Cop Soothed It and Set the Bar for Cops Nationwide Source:
Free Thought Project URL Source:http://thefreethoughtproject.com/sh ... othed-set-bar-cops-nationwide/ Published:Sep 1, 2015 Author:Matt Agorist Post Date:2015-09-02 08:45:45 by Deckard Keywords:None Views:1706 Comments:14
According to an unofficial count done by Ozymandias Media, an independent research group, a dog is shot by law enforcement every 98 minutes.
Geoffrey Wightman was at home with his 4-year-old son and mother-in-law when he called police to report a disturbance in his neighborhood. During the call, he said he told the dispatcher that there was a dog at his home.
“She [the dog] is an Australian Shepherd, and she’s really protective of the family,” Wightman said.
According to the reports, the dispatcher sent out officer Randall Frederick, who responded earlier than expected. His early arrival did not allow Wightman to put their dog, Jillaroo, out of the way.
When Frederick knocked at the door, Wightman’s 4-year-old son ran to answer it. That’s when Jillaroo went into protective mode.
“The dog immediately jumped between him and the officer, and that’s when it was a little bit nerve-racking, because I was watching the dog bite him,” Wightman said.
Jillaroo tore into the officer’s leg twice, piercing the skin.
At this point, 999 cops out of 1,000 would have likely pulled out their pistol and shot this dog, and all 999 of them would have been justified by their departments. But Frederick did something else, he showed compassion instead of violent escalation. He began to calm the dog down and showed Jillaroo that he was not a threat to the boy.
Round Rock Police Cmdr. Jim Stuart explained that Frederick was applying their newly adopted tactics of how to deescalate rather than kill.
“We talk about different ways to approach animals, to try and keep them from being aggressive towards officers. And if they do get aggressive, [we talk about] how to deescalate that,” Stuart said.
“It’s scary to think how differently that could have happened, but the level of training in his reaction was spot on,” Wightman said.
After controversy arose in May of last year, when a Round Rock cop shot and killed a Rottweiler named Bullet inside a home, the department surprisingly took proactive measures.
It seems that Bullet’s death was not in vain, as out of that tragedy came some good. Our hearts go out to Bullet’s owners, and nothing will bring back their dog. But perhaps his family can take solace in knowing that Bullet’s death led to countless other dogs living.
After Bullet’s tragic puppycide, all Round Rock police officers were put through a mandatory eight-hour training period with an experienced dog trainer to learn how to handle situations involving aggressive animals, according to KVUE.
Since then, residents have also been proactive in their community by working with police to prevent their dogs from being shot. Police and residents participate in a program called BARK, which stands for Be Aware of Residential K9s. Over 1,000 households have registered, and their houses are clearly labeled to alert officers to the presence of a family pet.
It is this type of ardent reaction from police to the concerns of the community that will undoubtedly lead to positive change. In fact, Jillaroo is proof that it works and it shows that a little training goes a long way.
As divide continues to grow between the police and the policed, the only thing that will repair that divide are steps like this one. Share this story with your friends and family to show them how communication and proactive community support is paramount to fostering peace and the preservation of life.
it was discovered that a single police department in Buffalo, NY, shot 92 dogs in less than three years.
OMG! pit,rot,pit rot, mastif, lion!
Im not for harming good animals but being attacked by an animal that can leave you maimed? Oh please, do not hesitate! Put it down as fast as you can. You can grown another dog but you can never grow another limb!
I've been in the same spot, twice. Once before I was a cop and only once while a cop. Back in the late 80's, I was walking through a lumber supply store with a 100 pound bag of concrete... while trying to open a door to walk from the yard area to the checkout area, a yard dog grabbed ahold of my leg.... I purposely slammed that 100 pound bag of concrete on the dogs head and shoulders... he later died. The lumber yards didn't even want to charge me for my supplies... I should have sued, but I didn't. My father was friends with the business owner.
Late in my LE career, I responded to a house to arrest a female on a warrant... she allowed me entry, and while I walked through the kitchen, her small terrier mix ran up behind me and managed to bite through my duty pants and sink both teeth into my calf... I shook that little fucker off my leg... but I never considered shooting it (I didn't wanna fill out that kind of paperwork and use of force reports, and I didn't wanna damage her home and floors), IF it came back at me (which it didn't) I would have stomped it to death while my arrestee watched.
I believe in the food chain. We are higher on it than animals... to think otherwise weakens our species. It's a libtard ideal to treat animals as "equals"... and many of or closet Libtards and Commie Sanders lovers will use that ideology against you.
Animal huggers will say... My dog never walked in a school and shot it up. Yeah, and your fucking mutt never invented the wheel, fire, or won a fucking Nobel peace prize either.
The decision how to act should be up to the person getting bit... Not the libtard who sees dogs as equals to humans.
We aren't all equal... we never were. We shouldn't treat everything "equally"... we should treat them FAIRLY. It's fair to kill a dog that's bitting you.
