A more troubling dog shooting
In the past, I've strongly supported High Point police when they've had to shoot a dog.
I can't do that in the latest instance.
It occurred last week.
Two officers and a police dog were pursuing a suspect on foot. The man they were following allegedly had wrecked a stolen car.
They lost sight of the subject, but the dog tracked him across the back yards of several homes on Louise Avenue, police said.
Coming to a fence, the officers climbed over to continue the pursuit. The homeowner's dog ran out from under the house and attacked, according to police. An officer shot the dog three times, killing it.
A police spokeswoman said the officer acted to protect himself. At the same time, the spokeswoman added, the dog wasn't at fault. It was guarding its property.
This bothers me because, in this instance, the exact same thing could have happened to my dog or to almost anyone's.
In other cases, police are called to a neighborhood where a dog is running loose and often threatening people, if not actually attacking.
Such a dog is a danger to public safety and fair game for lethal action as a last resort.
A dog kept in a fenced yard is an entirely different story. It doesn't pose a threat to anyone who doesn't come into its yard. If that happens, the dog is supposed to defend its turf.
If intruders intend to break into the house, they're the ones who are fair game for whatever injury the dog is able to inflict on them.
Well, what if the intruders are police officers crossing the property in the line of duty? Then, apparently, the dog is in big trouble.
Of course, I can't say the officer didn't need to shoot the dog to avoid a painful encounter with a fiercely protective dog. I wasn't there.
But, as I wrote in my previous column, in more than 35 years as a runner, I've been challenged by countless snarling, threatening and occasionally biting dogs, and not one time was I ever in a situation where I was in such jeopardy that I needed even a nonlethal weapon, let alone a gun. Not that it couldn't happen, but just knowing how to deal with the animal can avert a crisis.
In this case, I don't know if a willy-nilly pursuit across private property, and especially into a fenced yard, was the wisest course for officers to take, unless the subject was considered armed and dangerous.
And why didn't he have trouble with the dog if he'd passed through the same yard?
Police didn't get their suspect anyway, so maybe they were on the wrong track.
Perhaps they should reconsider their procedures in such cases. I'm not comfortable with the idea that police might run through my fenced-in back yard and provoke a confrontation with my dog.
Comments (7)
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A little pepper spray goes a long way. No need in shooting the dog for doing what dogs do. Protecting the master in it's own yard.
The cop needs to be horsewhipped.
The Department needs to pay big time. Officers need to know that if you are intruding into a fenced yard then prepare to run faster, go around, or give the dog a squirt but no need in shooting the animal.
Dang, fool must have Wyatt Earp syndrome. I wonder what would have happened if the owner had come out in the yard and puched out the cop. Would he have shot that individual?
Sum it up, some folks don't have any business being a cop much less given a weapon.
Posted on February 1, 2006 4:40 PM
I'm not comfortable with the idea that police might run through my fenced-in back yard and provoke a confrontation with my dog.* Doug
Neither am I! I had a good close friend of mine from my old days as a adventure in Latin America looking the Temple of Doom. When he retire from the adventure with some gold and idols tresures. He invested it in a animal farm located in South Dade county Florida. After a few years real estate growth caught up with him and his farm. He sold off most of the animals and kept the farm hoping some developer would pay him a large piece of change for the property with new subdivisons and Malls on the property. The property was located on US 1. A drug bust occured in front of his property with the suspect fleeing the scene and jumping over the cover fence of the farm. The suspect was follow by a cop in fast pursit who had jump the fence also. The suspect had jump into the gator pond and under attack by a large bull gator. The cop had landed on sand next to the pond and was laughing at the suspect and the gator who were fighting it out. As my friend tells it, the cop disappear at the same time as his pet tiger [Killer] into the Everglades swamp never to be seen again. He said the suspect was later tried in court as the one legged and one arm fugitive from justice according to media reports. The bull gator was later sold to the University of Florida as the team masot after his media star appearance was fading away about the same time that Steve Spurrier left to become the Redskins coach.
My friend later move to south Georgia and was operating a another new animal farm producing running backs for Coach Bobby Bowdin at Florida State. I have no idea if he is dealing with the Georgia Dogs for wideouts or the Clemson Tigers for defensive ends.
Posted on February 1, 2006 7:30 PM
Couldn't the police carry a tranquilizer gun?
Posted on February 2, 2006 1:12 PM
Bad Boy they carry mace, it works real good on dogs as well as humans. The cop should have use it instead of his 9mm. It sure is a lot cheaper and a lot quieter.
Posted on February 2, 2006 7:04 PM
Doug,
I'm pretty sure that even though the High Point Police seem to have a bark-and-I'll-shoot policy against most dogs, your wimpy little cock-a-poodle isn't going to worry even them too much. I'm just taking a guess on your dog breed, but I'm confident we're talking yappy lap dog rather than something from the pit bull-rottweiler school, no?
Posted on February 3, 2006 12:59 PM
How does 65 pounds of fanged fury sound to you?
Posted on February 3, 2006 1:19 PM
Grrrrr!
Atta boy, Doug!
Posted on February 3, 2006 3:43 PM