Sister
Posted on 04/21/2009 5:44:34 PM PDT by Chet 99
Crime victim's service dog shot
By MARLEE GINTER KOMO-TV STAFF
BELLINGHAM -- Chohnie Baird clutched on to the people around her. With her service dog gone, she has no choice but to rely on others for support.
"I miss her. I'm afraid to be out here now. That's why I had her," Baird said.
Baird said the unthinkable suddenly robbed her of her service golden retriever.
Detectives said that on Monday afternoon, a neighbor shot and killed Sister. Baird, a crime victim, had gotten Sister to be her therapy dog and protector.
James Krebs, Baird's caretaker, said he witnessed the shooting from his window.
"We heard the first shot, we saw Sister running. I heard the second shot and then I just saw her collapse," he said.
Baird doesn't know why anyone would shoot Sister, a dog she said would never provoke or scare anyone.
Baird said her helper was never aggressive, but a witness claims otherwise. The witness told KOMO News that Baird's dog had attacked a small poodle a neighbor was walking.
When a neighbor looked out to see what all the commotion was about, he saw that the woman who was walking the poodle was on the ground. Thinking Sister was attacking the woman, the man shot the dog, detectives said.
The woman later said she was unnerved to see a big dog approaching her small dog, and the fear had caused her to sit, almost as if her legs had given out.
But witnesses told the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office that Sister was also running loose and tormenting other dogs that were fenced in.
But Baird doesn't buy it, insisting Sister was a trained service dog and a docile golden retriever.
"She might have seen a dog that Alberta (my neighbor) was walking. She walks that dog all the time," she said. "Nobody shoots a service dog!"
The Whatcom County Sheriff's Office has turned over the case, which it considers a feud between neighbors, to the prosecutor's office.
Here’s a slightly varying account of the incident from a blocked site:
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/102/story/878775.html
In this account it was claimed the Golden locked onto the neck of the poodle. Yet, it also claims that toy poodle was released from the vet, unharmed. Hard to believe that a toy poodle would come out undamaged if it had actually been attacked.
This is also about the worst writing I have ever seen so I'm sure the factual details are screwed up as well.
The witness told KOMO News that Baird’s dog had attacked a small poodle a neighbor was walking.
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I wonder why it got shot ?...
Yup, that’s pretty much the case. Still, dog owners simply cannot allow their dogs to roam/run wild, whether it be vicious pit bulls, friendly goldens or what have you. There are leash laws for a reason.
First question to the shooter: What commotion?
If that Toy Poodle was checked by a vet and nothing was wrong with it, it was not attacked.
why would a service dog- any dog- be running loose off the owner’s property?
sad story
dog owners simply cannot allow their dogs to roam/run wild, whether it be friendly pit bulls, vicious goldens...
There, that’s better...
Back in the 80s and into the 90s we had here a crime-free neighborhood- no breakins, no muggings,nothing like that. We also always had two or three largish dogs that had the run of the neighborhood. They walked all about the neighborhood and knew who belonged here and who did not. Parents also used to teach their children about dogs and very few were locked up in fences. Sometimes a child would bet nipped, never seriously if he manhandled a dog. Parents put bandaids on and scolded the kid for abusing the dog. At night a couple of times someone from elsewhere would be in the neighborhood trying to get through a window and would encounter one of these dogs. He would not continue his work and would leave the area quickly. By 2002 or so some younger folks moved into the neighborhood and, besides trying to force all the neighbors to buy newer cars and paint their houses all to a particular color chart they were horrified that DOGS were visible in the neighborhood and cried loudly to the county commissioners. The dogcatcher became a regular sight in our neighborhood and soon we had no more dogs that were not caged up in fences and those did not bark-barkers were also removed. We started to get gang types selling drugs on our blocks and houses and cars get broken into regularly now. The dogs prevented that stuff. Now the police write reports on it. We took care of the drug dealer phenomenon ourselves but we can’t really replace the dogs.
If this was a fully trained service dog as stated, then it’s been fully vetted for non-aggressiveness towards other animals and to also ignore them.
So I suppose a check of it’s training records is in order, but I’m inclined to doubt the neighbor’s claims, especially if there is some sort of feud going on.
“Baird, a crime victim, had gotten Sister to be her therapy dog and protector. “
~~~
I saw that,,,
something is wrong with this story,,,
Why was it runnin’ loose ?
The SD’s I’ve seen would have to be peeled off their owner.
No way one would just run off,,,
Was it even trained ?...
I honestly think, when it all comes out in the wash, that the neighbor and the poodle walker are in cahoots and were trying to get rid of the service dog. The Service dog likely goes out into a fenced in yard to do his business, poodle walker sees it outside and takes her dog out while Mr. Neighbor gets his rifle.
Poodle walker screams “My fluffy” and neighbor kills service dog. Why? Well why was the disabled neighbor a victim of crime and needing a service dog?
I have toy poodle and a standard poodle and the toy is an evil little snot. She goes after big dogs and latches on to their lips all the while squealing like she’s being killed.
It took us two or three incidents before we realized that she is NOT the victim. If she gets killed it’s because she asked for it. That little 5lb sucker herds sheep too. Absolutely fearless (probably because with a brain case that small, there’s only two brain cells in it).
If this was a fully trained service dog as stated, then it’s been fully vetted for non-aggressiveness towards other animals and to also ignore them.
So I suppose a check of it’s training records is in order, but I’m inclined to doubt the neighbor’s claims, especially if there is some sort of feud going on.
~~~
It sounds like it was shot off of the property,,,
Your spot on about those records and training,,,
Sorta smells like a scam to me...
Besides the ridiculous hair cut (Rita Rudner used to ask if other dogs thought Poodles were part of a cult) I have no problem with Standard Poodles. The Toy Poodle, however, is a breed that I have rarely ever seen a pleasant dog from. Very aggressive, very tempermental, and (as you point out) not very intelligent.
Poodle walker screams “My fluffy” and neighbor kills service dog. Why? Well why was the disabled neighbor a victim of crime and needing a service dog?
~~~
Good point,,,sure could be true,,,
Thugs will take out lights,dawgs,set off alarms/etc.
( so it gets turned off )
so they can break in or whatever...
Our toy is very pleasant with people and incredibly tolerant of young children. When she’s had enough, she goes cat and gets up on a high peice of furniture out of reach.
But she is aggressive as hell with other animals, dogs, cats, squirrels, sheep, llamas and alpacas. I would never let her near a horse or cows, she’d stampede them for sure.
She’s the only dog I’ve seen stupid enough to charge a llama. She’s only alive because the llama was laughing so hard, I’m sure (they guard the sheep).
We had a toy poodle when I was a teen and Jacques was a sweet little thing. He was never aggressive. But then all of us kids, even the young ones, never bedeviled him.
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