Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Woman Dies Weeks After Cop Shoots Guide Dog
theINDYchannel.com ^ | Thu Mar 4, 3:59 PM ET

Posted on 03/04/2004 9:17:35 PM PST by hookman

A Madison County mother believes her daughter's death could have been prevented if an Anderson police officer had not shot her dog to death last month.

Andrea Hill, 26, died after suffering an epileptic seizure Saturday, RTV6's Jennifer Carmack reported.

Hill's mother, Linda Hall, said her medically trained black lab, Max, alerted her whenever her daughter was having a seizure.

"My dog wasn't here to let me know she had a seizure and she suffocated," Hall said.

Max was shot to death by an Anderson police officer Feb. 6. It all started when Hill's 6-year-old son didn't come home, so she called police to help with the search.

"When they first went to the house, there was a very vicious dog within the home," Anderson Deputy Chief Mark Yeskie said.

Hall said she put Max in a bedroom and left with another officer to look for her grandson, but when Officer Phil Allen re-entered the home to check for the child inside, police said Hill had opened the bedroom door, letting the dog out.

"Basically he came out and started attacking the officer. He got to the degree where he was growling, had his mouth open trying to bite the officer," Yeskie said. "You have an officer that's being viciously attacked by a 60-pound dog, and he had no choice."

According to the police report, the officer kicked the dog and shot it several times, Carmack reported, but Hall said the dog didn't pose a threat.

"He opened that door and he shot the dog in the face. The dog came at his shoe, but he didn't bite him. He didn't hurt him. He was getting at his shoe to try to get him to leave," Hall said.

Police said they were not told that the dog was medically trained.

"Through this entire incident we were never told anything special about this dog. It was a 60-pound black lab, is all we knew at the time," Yeskie said. "We're sorry for her death, for the destruction of the dog, but I think we reacted properly."

The Hall family said they are considering filing a lawsuit against the city and police department, Carmack reported.

"I explained to the officers when they came to interview us that the dog was a medical trained dog for epilepsy," Hall said. "If Max would have been alive, we wouldn't have buried my daughter today (Wednesday). Yes, I'm angry."


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cop; dog; donutwatch; leo; petkillers; pigs; shoots; warondogs; workingdogs
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 141-160 next last
To: LadyDoc
As I said in an earlier post: Follow the money.

And as I say in this post: look skeptically at people whose stories are blatently CYA.

41 posted on 03/05/2004 4:46:45 AM PST by Oztrich Boy (Despise not the jester. Often he is the only one telling the truth)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: ambrose
"Yep. Have you noticed they always say "the officer was in fear for his life"?"

Yeah, some cops don't seem to be very brave.
42 posted on 03/05/2004 4:50:40 AM PST by PLMerite ("Unarmed, one can only flee from Evil. But Evil isn't overcome by fleeing from it." Jeff Cooper)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: hookman
"Eulogy of The Dog
By: George G. Vest

Gentlemen of the jury, the best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter whom he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us---those who we trust with our happiness and our good name---may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it most. A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its clouds upon our heads. The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world---the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous---is his dog.


Gentlemen of the jury, a man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he can be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies. And when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace, and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death.

Compiled from eye witness accounts of a trial summary delivered by George Graham Vest in 1870 at the old courthouse in Warrensburg, MO during a trial about the shooting of a farmer’s dog named “Old Drum” by a neighbor."
43 posted on 03/05/2004 5:05:03 AM PST by BayouCoyote (I love my chocolate lab.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: oceanperch
Men in uniform who are trained as PO sometimes come across as calous and hard maybe the dog took that the wrong way.

It could just be the uniform. We had a lab mix that went absolutely nuts when a man in uniform knocked on our front door. The dog was visibly embarrassed when my brother (just home from USAF basic training) took off his hat and spoke to him.

44 posted on 03/05/2004 5:06:09 AM PST by magslinger (Carpe Ductum)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: LadyDoc
"But the dog was so vicious he was locked in the bedroom when the cops came. Sorry, but trained dogs don't have to be locked up."

I think it would be totally irresponsible to let a family pet be running around loose when there are strangers coming in and out. Doing is surely no indication of viciousness. Sheesh... we shut our Shih Tzu up any time even friends are coming in and out.

If I had heard about this without having already heard of numerous instances of officers going off half-cocked on family pets, and the words of the officers themselves in this particular case didn't ring so hollow, I'd give more benefit of the doubt.

I sure am not going to jump the gun and say that it doesn't deserve a fair hearing before I accuse the family of being druggies or $ hungry connivers.
45 posted on 03/05/2004 5:27:46 AM PST by Trinity_Tx (Most of our so-called reasoning consists in finding arguments for going on believin as we already do)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: Trinity_Tx
Reason # 4,289 to hate these disgusting pig fascists.
46 posted on 03/05/2004 5:32:53 AM PST by Guillermo (It's tough being a Miami Dolphins fan)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 45 | View Replies]

To: Guillermo
Yikes. LOL

For the record, I don't hate cops at all. Out of the ~10 I have ever known, 4 were power-hungry morons out to prove something, but I wouldn't want to dis the 7 good guys because of the other four...

Does anyone remember the story from a little over a year ago about the family in Tennessee that got wrongly pulled over, ordered out of their car, forced onto the ground, and had their family dog shot by an officer when they all refused to heed the mother's and kids' pleas that they shut the car door so the dog wouldn't get out?
47 posted on 03/05/2004 5:47:53 AM PST by Trinity_Tx (Most of our so-called reasoning consists in finding arguments for going on believin as we already do)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 46 | View Replies]

To: All; sinkspur
Here's a link to the CNN story with a description of the video of the above-mentioned incident I found doing a google search.
48 posted on 03/05/2004 5:57:34 AM PST by Trinity_Tx (Most of our so-called reasoning consists in finding arguments for going on believin as we already do)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

To: Trinity_Tx
Yes, I do.

That was reason #2,941
49 posted on 03/05/2004 6:19:19 AM PST by Guillermo (It's tough being a Miami Dolphins fan)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

To: LadyDoc
And Labs don't attack, unless they are trained to attack strangers.... want to bet there is something "missing" in this article? Like illicit drugs also hidden in the bedroom, where they just happened to find the dog?

Oh, for God's sake, that's totally out of line.

50 posted on 03/05/2004 6:32:57 AM PST by freedomluvr1778
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: DugwayDuke
Today, police are trained to protect themselves in any situation. Rightly so, but part of that training is to kill dogs when there is the slightest indication that an officer might be in danger.

It's the path of least resistance for the Police. They have good reasons for their training since many individuals in "bad" areas of town also like to have dogs that bite. With that said it's also used as a signal by the Police of who is in charge of a particular situation.
51 posted on 03/05/2004 6:53:30 AM PST by e_castillo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: ambrose
(Y)our "Officer Friendly" in action...

Typical housecall procedure:

1) Ring Bell
2) Shoot Dog
3) Identify Self
4) Arrest Occupants

In pressure situations, dispense with Step #1 and Step #3.

52 posted on 03/05/2004 7:03:09 AM PST by bondjamesbond (John Kerry is nothing more than Ted Kennedy without a dead girl in the car.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: LadyDoc
This was NOT a "guide" dog. It probably wasn't a trained dog. they would not have had to put a trained dog in a room to prevent it from biting a visitor. Why did they do that? Maybe because it was not a "trained" dog at all, merely a housepet with a little training. And Labs don't attack, unless they are trained to attack strangers.... want to bet there is something "missing" in this article? Like illicit drugs also hidden in the bedroom, where they just happened to find the dog? And death in an epileptic seizure is extremely rare...would love to see the autopsy.

Geez, you are thick headed.

1. The lady locked the dog in the bedroom because she expected people to tromp in and out, and didn't want to have to worry about the dog as well - further, the dog would get underfoot.

2. The house should have been thoroughly swept first thing. If there was anyplace the child would not be, it would be the house. Deputy Dope simply had no cause to be poking around further - there was no reason to believe the child was in that room (and before you give me some song and dance about how he'd be a well trained police machine, you need to know that Anderson is one of the poorer communities in Indiana - and can only afford the most doltish, least trained and poorly compensated cops).

3. How friendly is a dog going to be when a strange man walks into a room in its house while the owner is outside and away? I'd be positive it wouldn't be a happy wagger. The words "see dog, close door" would be applicable.

4. Given your keen powers of observation, I'm sure you'd be able to link the daughters fatal seizure with global warming and the Loch Ness monster. What was your point? Your complete fabrication of a druggie story?

53 posted on 03/05/2004 7:10:53 AM PST by Cornelius Jay McGuyver
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: LadyDoc
I am imagining it something like this.

1) She calls the police to report her missing son.
2) The police arrive at the house and upon seeing a dog, the officer (likely one who is afraid of dogs as quite a few people are for some reason in today's society) asks her to lock the dog away.
3) She lets the dog out when she leaves with the officer to go search for her son.
4) Another officer comes back to her house to check and see if her son returned.
5) The dog is already upset because his Master is upset and he has already been locked in a room recently. He sees a strange person entering his packs home and growls defensively.
6) Officer sees dog and kicks at it to scare it away (obviously knows nothing about dog behavior)
7) The dog snaps at the foot and is then shot because he "attacked" the officer.

All police officers, not just those assigned to a K-9 unit, should have training when it comes to dog behavior. There is a difference between a trained attack dog guarding drugs and a family pet that is confused and upset. Too often if a dog doesn't remain perfectly still, it is shot when it doesn't pose a threat.
54 posted on 03/05/2004 7:12:34 AM PST by Anitius Severinus Boethius
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: squidly
I had a 60 lb black lab (SUE) and I never figured she would be a problem to any one until a guy holding a stick started yelling at me. She went after him and It was all I could do to stop her.
55 posted on 03/05/2004 9:56:14 AM PST by 20yearvet
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: LadyDoc
I used the term "guide dog" because most people can understand what I mean. The traditional "guide dog" was used to help the visually impaired. There are are sorts of disabilities which qualify the person for an animal assistant. During the first year of puppy training, these programs are pretty much the same. Then they animal gets specialized training. The dogs are selected to be even-tempered, intelligent, healthy, and versatile.

From the article, it sounds to me like this dog trained to be a "medical assistant." The dog is trained to sense when its master is in distress and alert to that fact.

56 posted on 03/05/2004 9:56:37 AM PST by capitan_refugio
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: Cornelius Jay McGuyver
1. The lady locked the dog in the bedroom because she expected people to tromp in and out, and didn't want to have to worry about the dog as well - further, the dog would get underfoot.

a trained dog is trained not to get underfoot. Most people have visitors tromping around all the time: Plumbers, electricians, meter readers, mailmen. If your dog bites, you might put him in a room, but you also warn the visitor. If the police was merely barked or nipped by a dog, one truly doubts he would have resorted to shooting an animal. Few policemen would risk shooting anyone or any animal in a closed room at close range. Therefore, logically (unless the cop has been written up in the past for anger management problems) once must logically assume the dog attacked him, assume the woman didn't warn the police the dog attacked strangers, and one must also assume this was not a dog trained by anyone. Since the family was asking for money for this "trained" dog, one wonders if the reason is dollar signs...

2. The house should have been thoroughly swept first thing. If there was anyplace the child would not be, it would be the house. Deputy Dope simply had no cause to be poking around further - there was no reason to believe the child was in that room (and before you give me some song and dance about how he'd be a well trained police machine, you need to know that Anderson is one of the poorer communities in Indiana - and can only afford the most doltish, least trained and poorly compensated cops).

Too many stories of "lost" kids who are found hiding in closets etc. And so the police when called first inspect the house for such hiding places. So why didn't the lady offer to hold the dog when they wanted to inspect the kids' room?

3. How friendly is a dog going to be when a strange man walks into a room in its house while the owner is outside and away? I'd be positive it wouldn't be a happy wagger. The words "see dog, close door" would be applicable.

Again, trained dogs don't attack strangers. Normal dogs might attack a stranger--they also attack mailmen, neighbor's kids etc. I've cared for many in emergency rooms. A dog that viciously attacks a person is put to sleep.

4. Given your keen powers of observation, I'm sure you'd be able to link the daughters fatal seizure with global warming and the Loch Ness monster. What was your point? Your complete fabrication of a druggie story?

My point is that death from seizures are rare...and I would check the autopsy before believing the story. However, in this day and age, one assumes a nice lawyer like Senator Edwards will get the mother lots and lots of dough since juries will never question the sob story, nor ever ever think that the seizure might have occured due to neglect (mom not giving medicine on time, or mom letting daughter unobserved)... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

57 posted on 03/05/2004 10:12:20 AM PST by LadyDoc (liberals only love politically correct poor people)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: hookman
Labs are a very interesting breed (I've owned three in the past and am getting ready to buy a fourth). On the surface they are one of the most mellow, tolerant, and friendly breeds of dog you can buy. When my kids were babies they used to latch on to my last labs ears and tail, and she would drag them around the house without so much as a whimper or the slightest hint of irritation. Unlike most breeds, labs actually LIKE playing with small children...they consider them a part of their "pack" and will take an abolutely incredible amount of abuse before they finally rebel.

Still, labs do tend to be territorial and WILL attempt to scare off anyone who they consider a threat. Like the incident in the story, I once had a police officer enter my home (neighbors kid slashed my wifes tire TWICE) without even thinking about the dog. She was about 18 months old and I'd never even seen her BARK at a person before, but she came tearing through the house and went completely nuts trying to scare him off. She never bit, but she made it clear that she WOULD if he tried to come in any further. I've only ever seen that kind of behavior in a lab once before...with the lab I'd had prior to that, when a homeless guy walked into my front yard while my wife was turning the flowerbed. The dog flipped, the homeless guy beat a hasty retreat, and the dog went back to sleep under its bush.

People can love their dobies, their rots, their poms, or whatever breed they may have as much as they want, but I believe that the Lab is the best all around breed for families. Smart, friendly, and incredibly protective. And when was the last time you read a story about a LAB ripping some kids arm off?
58 posted on 03/05/2004 10:31:14 AM PST by Arthalion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: LadyDoc
a trained dog is trained not to get underfoot. Most people have visitors tromping around all the time: Plumbers, electricians, meter readers, mailmen.

"Doc" (I put it in quotes because you seem a bit too thick to actually be one), it is apparent that you haven't the first clue on dog training and handling, nor do you seem to understand the function of a trained medical assistance dog.

This is not a security animal, nor does it lead a blind person around. It is trained to react to very specific signs of seizure which its senses can pick up (of course, were you really a competent family practitioner and current on your continuing studies, you'd have run across such material by now).

Were you to have read the article, the mother was out searching with the rest of the cops while this bozo simply wandered about the house. The article is silent as to whether the house was initially swept, which would have been SOP - thus there was no cause for this cop to even open the door on the room where she put the dog before walking out to search.

In the future, when you get the urge to opine on dog training, police procedure or medicine, please refrain - its apparent that you know nothing about any of them.

59 posted on 03/05/2004 10:58:07 AM PST by Cornelius Jay McGuyver
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]

To: Skooz
I put my two up because I want to protect them. I've got a 140 pound dane and a 190 pound mastif. Too many people know too little about how to act around dogs. I don't want to take the chance.

Both are very well mannered, but can be protective of their family. One would not be advised to go "searching" around in my house if I were not there. It's there house too and they tend to be a bit territorial and not too understanding of strangers who have no business in their house.
60 posted on 03/05/2004 12:10:42 PM PST by DugwayDuke
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 141-160 next last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson