Posted on 05/25/2013 9:31:15 PM PDT by Altariel
On a chilly night in late February in Fishers, Ind., Patricia McConnell was taking her daughter’s 7-year-old, 20-pound terrier mix, Reese, out for a midnight potty.
Reese was harnessed and on a retractable leash, but as she bounded ahead around a corner, the dog saw a neighbor and started to bark. Unfortunately, this neighbor was Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal William “Buzz” Brown. Reese was able to bark only two times before the deputy shot the leashed dog twice.
Brown, who says he felt threatened, was two feet away from the dog when he thought she might attack him. Amazingly, Reese survived. However, because she was shot at such a close range, Reese’s front left leg and shoulder had to be removed, and her back left leg was left shattered. The vet bills reached $10,000.
Patricia McConnell said the shooting was so unexpected that she feared that if she said anything, the officer would fire at her as well. Her daughter, Deborah Twitty, told Fox59 that they live in fear of their neighbor. “I’m afraid he’s going to retaliate,” she said of the deputy.
(Excerpt) Read more at petsadviser.com ...
Excellent point. Our troubles began when we decided to become a democracy. We were once "a Republic, if you can keep it." We could not.
Absolutely. I don't know if it is universal, but most police departments at all levels consider a working police dog to be the equivalent of an officer in regards to being assaulted. One who attacks a police dog will be charged with 'assaulting an officer.' I don't have a problem with this. As you point out though, that can work both ways. Force, especially pre-emptive force, used against a citizen's dog must be reviewable and must constitute police misconduct if proven to be unnecessary. It seems to be a growing trend that police can kill dogs with impunity regardless of whether they are attacked, all in the name of 'officer safety.' Just as they would, I'd consider the shooting of my dog as an attack on my family. In a worst-case scenario such as a mistaken address no-knock warrant or something like the event in the article, my instinct would be to react with force. That would be disastrous.
This is why I no longer trust police. In any potential confrontation with them that arises from a mistake or misjudgment, my life is perhaps at risk and my property, family and freedom and legal status are absolutely at risk. For this, I blame politicians and culture rather than the police themselves.
Saying that justifies a cop killing anyone, man or beast.
That is BS. They get in training that dogs are legitimate practice targets at all times. It gives cops experience shooting living beings that makes it easier for them to shoot a person who is non threatening. That is an important quality for a "law enforcement" officer.
Here’s the thing that gets me.... Police can shoot your dog that is protecting his ground and masters and the policeman is justified... But if you shoot a 90lb. police dog that is sent at you to hurt you, you are charged with murder... Equal?
I agree with you completely.
Shouldn’t have stop with the dog, should have shot the owner too.
Then go to their house and shoot the whole family.
That will teach everyone to carry a pooper scooper.
We gotta nip this in the bud before anyone else think they can walk a dog without a pooper scooper.
You’re hilarious. I’ve never once seen a cop shoot well, and I’ve worked with many as a soldier.
On a side note, even at midnight, unless you’re in the middle of nowhere with heavy cloud cover, there is usually some light. Your rabid defense of this is making me question your sanity.
I would be more inclined to say FR is full of people who are anti-idiot.
There, fixed your statement.
>I would be more inclined to say FR is full of people who are anti-idiot.<
Here, here!
LOL.
It is part of their training.
“Practice, practice, practice!”
Same reason that the poliece puppies will be dropped by the people when the sh tf....
You got it. A republic needs mentally and ethically mature representatives. A mobocracy will not have them.
Especially if the cop didn’t know for sure whether the owner had a pooper scooper or not. She *might* not have had one! Shoot first and ask questions later. Why take chances when you’re protecting yourself from the eeevils of *potential* dog poop? It’s an existential question, I think.
Those damned stupid retractable leads (i.e., “I have absolutely no control over my dog; he controls me”) are paper thin. Combine that with darkness (sorry, street lights are NOT the same as full-blown daylight), and you can easily not see the lead.
That being said, my snap judgement here would be the (off-duty neighbor, thus not quite the same as usual case) cop far overreacted, loose or not.
Yes, but 20 lbs is not even medium. Not in the real world, anyway.
BTW, I hate retractables; curse the lazy loser who invented those.
I agree. Too many dog “lovers” (slaves) and not enough dog respecters. The retractable is a sure-fire symbol of the former.
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