Posted on 06/27/2014 11:48:00 AM PDT by Altariel
Police spent much of Tuesday searching for a fugitive.
During the search West Virginia State Troopers and the Mason County Sheriff's Department said they had to shoot and kill a woman's dog.
Police spent almost 12 hours searching for Johnathon Jeffers, but with no luck. At one point during the search, police came out of the woods and onto Ginger Sweats’ property in Mason County. She has no ties to Jeffers, but was immediately caught up in the search when officers said they had to fire their guns.
Accompanied by the dog she has left, Sweat was still trying to come to terms with the loss of her beagle mix, Willy Pete. On Tuesday, police were searching the area where Sweat lives for a man who they said shot at them.
Sweat just happens to live in the search area, about seven miles outside of Milton. She said during the search, West Virginia State Troopers and Mason County Sheriff's Deputies came out of the woods onto her front yard, and that's when they shot her dog four times.
"The first time he tried to run. I don't think it hit him," she said. "They still continued to shoot him, and he eventually ran around to the side of my house, died and collapsed by my air conditioner."
Sweat said Willy Pete was her best friend, and that she tried to tell officers that the dog wasn't going to hurt anyone. However, West Virginia State Police Lieutenant Michael Baylous said the dog was a threat, and troopers did what they are trained to do.
"Try to avoid it, if possible, but the trooper who fired the shots, it's my understanding, waited until the very last second to fire that shot, in hopes that that animal would retreat," Baylous said.
The dog was sitting on a porch in the front of her house when the troopers came onto her property. Police said the dog started coming toward them. Sweat said the dog wasn't aggressive, but police said he was, and that they had to shoot.
"Many of us are dog lovers, but when it comes down to it, you absolutely have to put more value on the human life side of the equation than the side of the animal," Baylous said.
Troopers buried the dog behind the house. Sweat said her dog got her through a lot, and she is going to miss Willy Pete. She hopes that troopers think twice next time, before shooting an animal.
"I hit my knees when it happened, and begged the officer to do something," she said. "That was my best friend."
sad ping, about a beagle.
Cop vs. “Snoopy”....
Well.....
lol
They would have been in fear of their lives even if it was a Teacup Chihuahua ...
Most dogs are not going to retreat from an obvious threat to the pack.
a beagle? Big tough cop threatened by a beagle? A cat, I could understand. But a beagle?
I’m just thinking we should arm UPS & FedEx drivers... it’s amazing any of those guys make it home every day!
“Fear for their lives” = the nonsense they spew to get the protection and backing of their department.
Fail to spew it (as a few do, every now and then)? No protection.
Shoot MY dog in MY yard and you WILL be in fear for your lives!
LOL
i doubt the dog was a threat in this case. adrenalized cops on the job.
cops come onto your property and dogs react to strangers acting funny and aggressive. they shoot dogs in their owned fenced in back yards. they shoot freaking golden retrievers.
these are the cops i will not miss when the shtf and they’re on their own.
If we accept this premise will we also accept the premise of dead neighbors because they tried to defend themselves from JBT coming onto their property? The dog did nothing wrong. It’s his job to identify those coming onto the property.
My first thought exactly-they felt thretened to the point of using deadly force, by a beagle, for pity’s sake? These people just want to play with their toys, and they’re getting a mite too comfortable shooting people’s dogs.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
