Posted on 10/26/2012 2:19:29 PM PDT by Altariel
ST. LOUIS, MI (WNEM) -
A local family is still shocked after what happened to their beloved pet. They say their dog was shot and killed at the hands of a police officer.
The shooting happened Saturday in St. Louis, Mich., in Gratiot County.
Lori Walmsley, a neighbor of the family who lost their pet, says she saw the incident.
Walmsley says she was outside playing with her own dog when her neighbor's golden retriever, Scout, ran over into her yard. She says she called the dog over to play, which Scout did, and then Scout ran back over back into his own yard. That's when Walmsley says a police officer showed up.
Walmsley said the officer asked if the was dog hers. She said "no," but told the officer Scout wasn't dangerous. She says the officer tried to catch the dog, who apparently didn't want to be caught. The dog tried to run away and when cornered by the officer, let out a little growl. Walmsley says she couldn't believe what happened next.
"I heard 'pop pop pop pop pop,' and I thought, 'what is going on,' and I [saw] the St. Louis Police Department standing over my dog," said Scout's owner.
"He just started shooting him, he just kept shooting him in the head," said Walmsley. "I said, 'What are you doing? He's just a puppy!'"
The dog was taken to the vet were it later died.
The witness says the officer wasn't provoked and she doesn't feel his reaction was warranted. Scout's owners were inside their house during the incident.
For more on this story, including the police report from the incident, check out TV5's update here.
For Wednesday's story on the protest, click here.
Golden retrievers are the finest, most people-loving breed of dogs on Earth.
Any moron cop who would willfully shoot one deserves to be fired immediately.
Golden retriever puppy today, person tomorrow?
Anyone who looks at a golden retriever puppy and whose first thought is “shoot it” isn’t right in the head.
Was the officer using the dog for target practice, or what? Why shoot the dog?
A Golden??? Seriously, a Golden?
(WTF...shaking my head)
The only thing you need to fear from a Golden Retriever is if he rubs against youor navy blue pants! This is just a horrible story.
ping
In the past few weeks, it seems I’ve read dozens of stories on this site about cops shooting dogs. Why is this happening so often?
took him 6 shots to kill a cornered dog. Well that is about right for the level of shooting competancy of much of our local police force.
This was just an exercise to show the neighborhood who is really in charge. Good brave cops demonstrating their community ‘protect and serve’ moto and get in some good realistic target practice.
You have to watch small children around golden’s —
Their happily wagging tail can knock them over.
“Why is this happening so often?”
Because they can.
Intimidate the population. “We just shot your puppy without remorse or shame. Imagine what we’d be willing to do to you—and how we’d get away with it just as easily.”
Oddly enough, if a criminal gang decided to make shooting dogs a nationwide initiation, it would probably make the news for days, if not weeks. (”Is your dog safe? Members of ____ have been observed shooting goldens, labs, German shepherds, chihuahuas all across the nation. Details at six.
Government employee shoots a housepet? Makes local news. Is buried, leaving many folks with the impression that “this was one cop, one dog in my area; not a problem; not a concern”.
I sometimes think that the Police Departments are going out of their way to promote this feeling of distrust of the police in the communities. That in turns keeps the ‘Us vs. Them’ mentality increasing in the Police departments. A very dangerous positive-feedback loop is developing here and it needs to be broken.
Yep, and their tongues relentlessly lick anyone in their path.
Because the dogs die, and the “officer” gets his jollies as he goes his own way.
Our dog, while we love him, isn’t here to defend our home on his own, but to make us aware of the intruder.
If a few more people replied with a few rounds of accurately aimed rifle fire, this silly crap wouldn’t continue.
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