Cop shoots, kills dog during Adams Morgan festival

TBD.com ^ | September 12, 2010 | TBD, ABC7

[driftdiver]

You seem to be fixated with phallic symbols. seek help

A lot of people like dogs or cars or boats, because they like them. For you to assume they are trying to compensate indeed tells us more about you than them.

[PLMerite]

“A lot of people like dogs or cars or boats, because they like them. For you to assume they are trying to compensate indeed tells us more about you than them.”

Yes, a lot of people do like dogs, myself among them. I was referring to the thug wannabes who feel the need to own half-wild mis-bred fighting dogs and to display them like trophies.

I wasn’t talking about well-behaved pets with responsible owners. Unless you see yourself somewhere in the previous paragraph, don’t be offended.

[Immerito]

Clearly you do care, as you are continuing to identify the dog and/or car as a “penis extension”.

If you didn’t care, you wouldn’t bother to continue use of the label.

The dog in the article was leashed and under control—the owner was on top of his own dog (as the police officer would later be) and the dog was leashed and harnessed.

This was not an unleashed dog running amuck. This was a leashed dog that was involved in a brief skirmish with another dog (Perhaps his dog started it, perhaps the poodle started it) and whose owner was sitting on top of him, working to calm him down after the fight.

In any case, your obsession with viewing objects as “penis extensions” says more about you than it does the dog’s owner. Perhaps you bought a car/dog/[insert object or animal] to serve as a penis extension for you and you can’t fathom that other men may not share your reasons for buying one.

I simply can’t fathom why any man, unless he doubted the size of his own “package” in comparison to other men, would concern himself by guessing what he told himself other men used to “compensate” via “penis extenders”, much less make the same argument multiple times in a thread.

[momtothree]

Sometimes it is over the most stupid thing!! “It’s my fry and I don’t want to eat but YOU can’t eat it either!” (I hate to say it but it is similar to kids fighting at times). You did what I did... gave a time out. I am sure there is a more “dog whispering” term like temporary removal from pack etc... but to me... it’s a time out. What is weird to me is after the “fight”, the dogs were all buddy buddy in ten minutes. My hands were still shaking but they were playing like nothing ever happened. (I wish I could say the same for my daughters when they get into a squabble... they hold an angry grudge for hours)

[Immerito]

http://www.ilovedogs.com/2010/09/rescue-dog-shot-dead-by-cop-at-crowded-street-festival/

Rescue Dog Shot Dead By Cop at Crowded Street Festival

Was last weekend’s shooting death of a dog by a police officer during a crowded street festival in Washington, D.C. justified?

On Sunday, a Poodle mix and a Pit Bull-Shar Pei mix named Parrot got into a scuffle at the Adams Morgan Day festival. Aaron Block, Parrot’s owner, told the Washington Post that he had separated the dogs and was trying to calm Parrot when police officers arrived.

In a statement, Block said Officer Scott Fike knocked him off of Parrot. As a photo taken by witness “Darcycat1” shows, Fike then kneed Parrot in the back and yanked the dog’s front paws underneath him.

Lifting the dog by his neck and back, Fike then threw Parrot over a banister and down a 10-foot concrete stairwell. Block says that when his dog – who “doesn’t handle stairs well” and was 12 to 15 steps away from Fike – staggered to his feet, the officer shot and killed him.

“The officer drew his gun in an unnecessary act of cowboy gunslinging law enforcement and shot my dog amidst a crowd of thousands,” Block said. He had been fostering Parrot through Lucky Dog Animal Rescue.

The police report (PDF) tells an different story, stating that Parrot charged toward Fike in the stairwell. According to the report, Fike, “[f]earing for his safety and the safety of the large crowd that had gathered, discharged one round from his departmental issued 9MM Glock striking the pitbull causing it to fall to the bottom of the stairs. The pitbull later expired.”

Two festival attendees agree with the police report, although neither witnessed the actual shooting. Tony De Pass, a former D.C. police officer, told the Washington Post that Parrot snapped at Fike as the officer held him down, prompting Fike to throw the dog down the stairwell. (The police report says Fike was not bitten, but only scratched on his hand and wrist.) Soleiman Askarinam, the owner of a nearby restaurant, said it took several officers to get Parrot under control, and he felt police “did a good job” in controlling the situation.

Many more witnesses dispute the report. Lucky Dog Animal Rescue reports that one unnamed witness said Parrot appeared to be stunned from the fall and did not charge the officer. The witness said the dog had just gotten to his feet when Fike drew his gun and opened fire without provocation.

“This I saw because I was standing at the doorway of the business where the dog was killed,” the witness said. “As I turned away, in one to three seconds a single shot rang out. I then went out on the platform above the stairwell, and saw the dying dog’s head was nearly on top of the floor drain next to the locked gate at the bottom of the steps, facing away from the steps.”

Other horrified witnesses included 9-year-old Neda Changuit and her parents, who said Parrot appeared to be subdued before Fike threw him over the banister. Changuit’s mother watched “with shock and total disbelief” as Fike calmly fired at the dog. “I thought initially that it couldn’t possibly be a real gun,” she told the Washington Post.

Sushi, the Poodle mix involved in the fight – and who some eyewitnesses say initiated the scuffle — is recovering from two broken bones and a large gash. Her owner, Sheila Martins, told the Washington Post, “the police did the right thing because at that moment, the dog, it wasn’t controllable. I could tell like how aggressive the dog was. If he would start running around, he would attack somebody.” Martins did not witness the shooting.

Parrot is not the only dog to have been questionably shot and killed by a police officer in recent months. As we reported last month, an off-duty officer shot dead Bear-Bear in a Maryland dog park after he got in a scuffle with his dog. The officer, Keith Shepherd, was charged with two misdemeanors: Animal cruelty and discharging a firearm within 100 yards of an occupied home.

In another case this past Sunday in St. Petersburg, Fla., a Chesapeake Bay Retriever and a Rottweiler were both shot to death by what their owner called a “trigger-happy cop” after they scuffled with an unleashed dog that attacked them during a walk. Even after the Chessie was shot and lying on the ground, the officer, Slobodan Juric, shot her two more times. An internal affairs investigation is underway.

Meanwhile, “in memory of a fantastic dog,” Lucky Dog Animal Rescue has created Parrot’s Fund. Donations will be used to rescue bully breeds in high-kill shelters and to educate the community “on the many wonderful attributes of these dogs.”

You can demand that the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department investigates Parrot’s shooting and takes appropriate action against the officer by signing this petition. (Be aware that this links to a petition targeting the Metropolitan Police Department. There is another petition on Facebook that targets the wrong Scott Fike.)

PHOTOS: luckydoganimalrescue.org, voices.washingtonpost.com

[The Theophilus]

You may never have attended this event, but I have. It is very crowded in an urban neighborhood; families come with their small children. It is not an environment for pittbulls and/or rottweilers.

But it is a perfectly fine venue for a JBT to open-fire not knowing what all is down range or having any regard for ricochets.

There is no situation that can't be made much worse by simply introducing a LEO. Life and liberty are always in mortal danger when LEOs are present.

[Immerito]

The first dog, apparently, was his canine partner, a rottweiler.

Apparently he violated department policy and brought it home. When a fight broke out amongst his partner and his other dogs, he shot the rottweiler.

****

UPDATE: On October 28, the Washington Post reported that Lucky Dog Rescue has filed a complaint with the D.C. Office of Police Complaints about the Parrot shooting incident.

The complaint (http://www.luckydoganimalrescue.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/2010-10-26-OPC-Complaint-Redacted-FINAL.pdf) includes many additional details about the incident.

It also notes that according to anonymous reports, this isn’t the first time the officer has been involved in a dog shooting: He shot and killed his own Rottweiler with his service weapon when he brought his K9 partner home to play with him and the dogs got in a scuffle.

http://www.ilovedogs.com/2010/09/rescue-dog-shot-dead-by-cop-at-crowded-street-festival/

http://news.change.org/stories/rescue-group-files-official-complaint-for-dog-shot-by-dc-police

“As if that weren’t enough, Lucky Dog Rescue received tips that this wasn’t the first time Officer Fike had shot a dog. The complaint states that Officer Fike brought his K-9 home, a violation of unit rules, to play with his unneutered Rottweiler. When a fight broke out, the service weapon was once again drawn and, this time, used to kill his own dog.

Lucky Dog attempted to obtain records on this incident and were told that, other than confirmation of an animal control incident in the area, there was no paper trail.”

[Eaker]

Well, it is a stupid comment.

Every time I see a “penis” reference made on Corvette, power tools or dog threads I picture Danica Patrick driving Nascar and Salamander walking her great huge dog, etc.

Do you think that they have a penis too or is it a penis fixation or just a stupid comment?

[dervish]

Thanks for the info.

Something is wrong with this cop. Unfortunately it looks like the “blue line” is in action.

[dervish]

I just read the Complaint.

This guy sounds like a real sicko.

[goat granny]

LOL animals are one step up when it comes to forget and forgive...My dad use to call it The dog in the Manger problem. Dog doesn’t eat the hay, but won’t let the cows near it...I raised 5 kids and can relate to squabbles...4 boys and 1 girl. They could push her around, but by golly anyone outside of the house try it and they would put an end to it real quick..:O)

[momtothree]

I remember one car trip that I thought I was going to lose my mind. My daughter was about three and my son was six. Nothing to do but to “tease” his little sister. He said, “I’m looking out YOUR window. It is YOUR window and I’m looking out of it and there is nothing you can do. I am stealing what you can see”. She started screaming, “Stop stealing MY window with your eyes!!” I did the typical, “If your Father has to pull this car over...” routine. Silence for about fifteen minutes and then he started (in a whispered voice), “I’m breathing YOUR air. YOUR air with my dirty nose and there is nothing you can do. YOUR air is going through my boogers”. It was then that I thought it should be legal for Moms to use strong medications on family car trips!!

[Salamander]

Dead-on post.

Whether it’s 2 pounds or 200 pounds, there’s a wolf in your living room.

Train it -right-.

[Salamander]

“possibly a rottweiler or pit bull.”

I neither envy penises or want an extension for one but at least *I* can correctly identify a penis when I see it.

[Salamander]

Dogs only live in “the now” and when the fight’s over, it’s over and forgotten.

The Poodle has/had food possession issues and acted inappropriately.

Were it my dog, I would fix that with proper corrective training.

The next time, it could get “possessive” with a little kid.

[Salamander]

If a woman has a big dog, would it qualify as a “boob job”?....;D

[EDINVA]

Note that this festival has been going on for decades, and at each and every one they have had police aplenty on duty, including apparently the canine squad, heretofore without incident. So ole Fike was indeed a pretty special dog to have drawn their attention, don’t you think?

The stairs down which Fike was tossed is a ‘stairwell’ not a flight of steps. It is probably 4-6 steps, a semi-enclosed area. That, as I understand it, is where the shooting occurred, away from the street where pedestrians would be found. The cop didn’t walk into a crowd and just shoot the dog.

I am not arguing that the cop was right or not, that will come out later in the investigation where the conflicting eyewitness reports will be sorted out. However, that festival is NO place for ANY dogs, especially one as potentially lethal as a rotweiller or pitbull. A poodle may be snappy and a pain in the butt, but its bite(s) will not be fatal.

The reason folks in that ‘hood own those dogs to begin with is that the surrounding area, just beyond the charming boutiques and bodegas, is crime-laden. They don’t get those breeds to be lapdogs.

[Eaker]

We have little and big dogs.

I guess that is considered “confusion”!

[Immerito]

Ha! :-D

[Immerito]

“The stairs down which Fike was tossed is a ‘stairwell’ not a flight of steps. It is probably 4-6 steps, a semi-enclosed area. That, as I understand it, is where the shooting occurred, away from the street where pedestrians would be found. The cop didn’t walk into a crowd and just shoot the dog.”

Fike tossed himself down a stairwell? That *is* impressive. How did he manage to do that?

Some witnesses have stated that the poodle started the fight, if so, it is unsurprising that Parrot was being calmed down from “self-defense mode”. He wasn’t attacking other people or bothering anyone else at the festival when the officer forcibly removed him from his owner’s presence.

Based on the previous incident in which the officer brought his k9 partner home to “play” with his other dogs (against department rules and apparently without proper socialization to ensure that his work dog and pet dogs could be introduced peaceably, this K9 cop needs more training on dealing with dogs. )

If your goal is to increase a dog’s stress and aggression, removing him from his owner is an excellent way to go about it.

If your goal is to violate D.C. law on dealing with these circumstances (see post #84), do exactly what the officer in this case did. The officer, as a canine officer ,should be very familiar with that law and *chose* not to follow it. It’s quite clear that he decided, early on, to put the dog down.