Cop shoots, kills family dog (Golden Retriever)

ajc.com ^ | 12/20/10 | Alexis Stevens

[Nachum]

A Clayton County mother of six said the family dog did what he always did when he saw someone. He barked.

But when "Boomer" started barking and running toward a police officer Saturday morning, the officer shot the dog and killed it, Lawrene King told the AJC Sunday night.

“He’s a golden retriever," King said. "He barks, but he’s never bitten anyone.”

A Clayton County police officer was on foot patrol on North Shore Drive when the dog jumped off a porch and started barking and running toward the officer, Capt. Tina Daniel said. The officer ordered the dog to stop and when it didn't, the officer shot and killed the animal in its yard, Daniel said.

The officer, whose name was not released, was responding to a call reporting a suspicious person, police said.

[paul51]

an attacking dog? what are you talking about? who said the dog attacked anyone?

[Paladin2]

Stay the He-double hockley sticks off my property or be prepared to get the blast end of a 12-gauge.

[Paladin2]

Stay the He-double hockey sticks off my property or be prepared to get the blast end of a 12-gauge.

[Lurker]

These 'people', and I use that term very very loosely, in the "Law Enforcement Community" need to realize that their actions, such as shooting family pets when they're in their own yards and electronically controlled, are going to have consequences far beyond a scrap of paper in their files.

These aren't 'average citizens'. They're Agents of the State carrying deadly weapons issued by the State. They have powers of arrest that you and I don't. They're protected by legal indemnities that you and I don't enjoy.

They can shoot a family member down on their own property and then yammer on about 'fearing for their lives'. Well it's about time some of these idiots started really fearing for their lives.

Nobody is a bigger supporter of good cops than I am. But morons with guns like this one need to pay a heavy, heavy price from the citizenry they're sworn to protect when they screw up and kill a loved one.

What's sick is people defending actions like this.

L

[Salamander]

It’s only going to get worse.

I was raised in a family full of LEOs.

I was taught very early that they were the ones to seek out ~first~, if I were ever lost or frightened, as a child.

In a mere 49 years, I’ve developed a healthy suspicion of them, some of it based on personal observation, a bit of based on personal experience.

There are a lot of really “bad” cops, these days.

They’re definitely not the “blue knights is shining armor” I knew as a kid/young adult.

This depresses me.

[Dead Corpse]

Argumentum ad absurdum. And you are doing it wrong. You are only making yourself look like an idiot now.

This wasn't a pit. Your daughter was not in danger. And, to the best of my knowledge, you are not a trained officer of the law carrying a primary weapon and at least one back up like a tazer or pepper spray.

Buy a clue before you expound further.

[A_Tradition_Continues]

“Damn dog didn’t understand English...
Some owners neglect their dogs English lessons..”

We purchased a horse from a farm in Germany sight unseen. After it arrived to the States we found the horse to be, shall I say, stupid. In talking with the previous owner we discovered the horse had been trained with vocal commands in German.

Needless to say the horse is now bilingual and follows commands very well.

[SnakeDoctor]

The cop did.

SnakeDoc

[muawiyah]

The woman has 6 chilluns', presumably at home, and a cop comes down the street firing wildly ~ yup ~ seems to me in a dog eat dog world it would be OK to threaten his kids with a little nearby gunfire too ~ but we have courts standing by to SUE HIS PANTS OFF, and the sooner the better.

He should already be off the force.

This raises another question about the practice of shooting dogs ~ this was a RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD, and the guy hadn't been sent out with a warrant ~ he was just patrolling the area on a "complaint", not even a report of a crime underway.

As the cops in Detroit learned last year you go firing into a house you can kill kids all too easily.

I don't think this guy should even be allowed a driver's license ~ his tendency to fly into a rage is entirely beyond what is tolerable.

So, who hired this guy?

[dragnet2]

Mailmen go door to door for a living... How do they possibly survive without a gun and shooting dogs on a daily basis?

I don’t know Dragnet

How do the mailmen possibly survive on a daily basis without a gun> No one seems to know...

but let’s release the names of their families if they do something stupid so that their kids can be called names at school - and bombs placed in their wife’s car.

Not my suggestion...I simply said, unlike the officer, if a citizen had done this, his name would be all over the papers and Internet.

[Brookhaven]

A barking dog is different than an attacking dog.

---

Yes, and the officer apparently thought it was an “attacking” dog.

[Paladin2]

"do mailmen still go door-to-door?"

"Your" clearly a doofus.

There appear to be still three levels of USPS delivery:

At the door. (grandfathered neighborhoods)

At the mailbox. (Rural )

At the end of the street "cluster".

I'd suggest that you should consider buying a flak jacket and wearing same 24/7.

[Dead Corpse]

If so then this “cop” needs to be reassigned to mall duty and left there. He is unfit to be patrolling the streets.

[ExSoldier]

Someday, one of these bozos is going to do that to the dog of a sniper of marines and they're going to regret it and I mean outside of a movie theater. This was the action of a trigger happy coward and I'm sorry because I am pro law enforcement, but this was a travesty.

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

All this could have been avoided if the owner had kept their dog under control.

Read the article. The dog was on it's property contained within an electronic fence. It was under control. It's easy enough to see the fence collar on a dog, unless you panic easily. Shooting the dog is a good measure of how fearful this cop is of his surroundings. If this had been a civilian shooter, he would not have statutory and union protection from incompetent action.

[Salamander]

Yeah, right.

Protect your own job and serve your own agenda.

What has happened to this nation?

Ironically, I still respect and admire LEOs.

[it’s the way I was raised]

I must be either brain washed or stupid.

[I still have relatives who are cops...and they’re extremely decent people but then again, I live in a rural world where everybody and their brother has dogs in the yard and nobody goes into hysterics if a dog barks at them]

[Paladin2]

"we found the horse to be, shall I say, stupid."

Compared to, say, a dog?

[Salamander]

“What is the penalty for an average Joe that shoots someone’s dog on a city street because it is barking at him?”

In WV, it’s a felony with a mandatory 10 year sentence.

[Sans-Culotte]

I understand your point but I have a question. If you, as a private citizen, are walking down the street minding your own business, and somebody’s dog comes running toward you, what do you do? What I do is stop and face the dog. If it stops and doesn’t show signs of aggression, I back up a little, and soon go on my way. Shooting it, even if I happened to be armed, does not occur to me as a first response. But then I’m not a cop with control issues.

I am usually armed when I walk my dog. This is partly to protect him and me from other dogs, if necessary (and from other perps that may be lurking). Shooting the dog would definitely be the last resort for me, considering liability issues, etc. The dog would have to actually attack us before I shot it; and it would have to be something deadlier than a Yorkie. If I saw a Golden running at me I'd brace myself for a potential attack and see what happens. I have personally never seen an aggressive Golden.

My dog is NEVER allowed out off his leash; except for when he is our fenced backyard.

[FreeperDoll]

what about a leash law?..cop had no choice if the dog was barking and charging i would do the same...now obozo needs a beer summit with the cop and the dog owners since the dog acted stupidly...