Posted on 09/28/2011 12:25:49 AM PDT by nickcarraway
A San Mateo family expressed outrage Tuesday that police shot and killed their two dogs after they escaped and started barking at children in a park.
Police countered that the animals were vicious and one of them hadn't even been slowed after being jolted with a Taser stun gun.
Carla Torres, 38, said her two boxers, a female named Bella and a male named Jordan, may have been loose and loud at Laurie Meadows Park on Monday, but that there was no reason for officers to shoot them.
"I wish the police would have waited for animal control," Torres said. "I don't think they should have shot the dogs."
She added, "I'm sorry that kids got scared." But she pointed out that the pair of year-old dogs, who were from the same litter, hadn't bitten anyone at the park.
Police said they had no choice but to use their weapons.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
My next door neighbors had two boxers - the most aggressive dogs I’ve every been around. They’d trace us inside the house (with windows closed) barking at us and eventually got out of the fenced yard and bit people on several occasions.
Not bagging the breed as a whole, but can fully understand why the police acted the way they did. Boxers are big, quick and hyper and I’m willing to say that they can be quite aggressive depending on the owners and the dog.
LOL... Where I live, the responding police officer had to run back to the station, trade in his patrol car, and return in the Animal Control truck.
LOL I can envision that now.
When I was a kid we had two State police assigned to my county and the Sherriff carried his wife in the car with him as his Posse. Now w have well over 100 deputies with well over 00 Police Cars and God only knows how many state police assigned, and it takes longer to get help than it ever did. That is unless it’s a car accident, in that case they come from nowhere and cause a traffic jam at the scenein minutes.
Bull Mastiffs are excellent family dogs. They are also quite aggressive and capable of a great deal of damage. But if you saw a 100 lb dog picking her way gingerly around the playing two year old - or getting her ears pulled and stoically taking the abuse - you would quickly discern that this was a great family dog.
If you came into the yard unknown and unannounced - you would quickly discern that they are a VERY aggressive breed as well - to strangers.
I love Boxers, but on at least one statistical compilation of bites by breed, they rank very high. Of pure breeds, only Akitas, German Shepherds, Rottweilers, Huskies, and Pit Bull Terriers have more bites. Boxers rank higher in number of bites than Dobermans on that list.
That said, it's one of the breeds I'd love to own at least once. I've known some wonderful ones. God just doesn't give us enough years on this plane to own all of the breeds we'd like to experience.
Dogs loose in a park filled with small children? They needed killing. Kids are more important than animals. Dog owners have no one to blame but themselves.
I suppose statistics are statistics. I can’t argue that.
I can only speak to my experience and I’ve never had a problem with them and thus far, I’ve never met one that I have feared, even the barkers.
I do wonder if it is an absolute on the breed or if it could include ‘Boxer’ mix.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen advertisements (with photos) and animal control/rescue shelters list a pit type as a Boxer/Boxer mix.
A hospital would report Boxer even if a Boxer mix, no? And no, I am not trying to say they would never bite, I just have difficulty believing it that frequent.
>Today’s zoo’s have been catching the devil for penning up animals so people can view them, but no on complains about penned up dogs. Is it really loving an animal to keep it in a backyard penned up? Well I suppose that is beside the point.<
A dog with a fenced yard, that has plenty of interaction with its owners, is being mistreated in your opinion?
So people that let their dogs roam unsupervised are the good owners according to your thoughts?
Whoa.
There's no telling with a list like that - although it does differentiate between "German Shepherd" and "German Shepherd Mix" and other kinds of mixed breeds.
The deal with a boxer is that it's large and it was bred as a guard dog. Intuitively, I'd guess that the breed has been bred to be loyal to some but protective against others. Dogs are dogs, but any breed that's beed specifically bred as a guard dog is a breed I'd view as more likely to bite than, say, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel or a Toy Spaniel (500 years as a companion dog).
We all know how to read an AKC standard. Nothing negative is ever said about a breed. Everything is always cast in the best light. The AKC standard for a boxer includes the phrases: "guard dog," "[d]eliberate and wary with strangers," and "will exhibit curiosity, but, most importantly, fearless courage if threatened." You won't find that kind of language in the description of a Pembroke Corgi or Cardigan Corgi.
As I said, I like the breed. Loyal to the family and great with kids. But boxers are guard dogs. That's what the breed was developed as. Not a companion dog, or hunting dog, or working dog. A guard dog.
After reading the facts, it was a righteous shoot.
I have a boxer, and they are my favorite breed. Boxers are people lovers and hate to be left alone. A boxer that is constantly left alone can become a mean dog. That's what this case sounds like.
I own a very large mastiff that is completely non-aggressive. I’ve posted photos of him with my young granddaughter, me, and nose to nose with a ferret.
That said, he is never out of my control. He obeys his commands, sit, stop, stay, down, and if he didn’t, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone didn’t shoot him He is scary looking. Dogs and children do not always do well together. I have a niece who had her face torn up by a “gentle family dog” not sure the breed, at age 11. I don’t trust my dog because I cannot bear the thought that he would be put down if he EVER put his teeth on a human. He doesn’t even uncover his teeth around people.
He is capable of acting as a very effective watch dog, simply by standing and staring. Grown men have left the vicinity when he stands and watches them silently. He has a way of making a potential aggressor nervous without making a move. He’s calm around other dogs and will let them jump all over him, he just ignores them. But unknown men are his job, in his opinion.
Sometimes I’m surprised by the way people and other dogs assume he will be gentle (he always has been) and just pet and hug him, lift his ears and feet (they’re big). I myself would not do that with a strange dog.
Do you always put words into people’s mouths.
I was pointing out the hypocrisy of people who attack Zoo’s for keeping animals penned up, and then pen up a dog in their back yard.
I am not an advocate ,as you assume, of dogs running loose.
I have to call this a good shot. If, for sake of argument, a dog broke away from a responsible owner, the dog would immediately be re-restrained and removed to its own yard when possible.
If the dog inconvenienced anyone else, a responsible owner would apologize.
The owner should have kept her dogs under control. It’s a shame that they were shot, but this isn’t a case of a police officer entering a backyard to shoot a dog; this is a case of a loose dogs barking at children in a park.
“Sometimes I’m surprised by the way people and other dogs assume he will be gentle (he always has been) and just pet and hug him, lift his ears and feet (they’re big). I myself would not do that with a strange dog.”
Regrettably, fewer people these days understand that it is unwise to be so familiar with a strange dog.
Had to? Would be illegal in Russia.
Had to? Would be illegal in Russia.
Had to? Would be illegal in Russia.
Exactly. The dog could easily have a hot spot or sore place, and growl or even snap. What a dog will allow its owner to do, and what it will accept from a stranger, are two different things.
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