Posted on 01/14/2011 10:52:47 AM PST by Immerito
SAN CARLOS PARK, Fla. - A Lee County deputy goes in a woman's yard, and ends up facing off with a family pet. He shot the dog twice, and now the owner is furious, demanding answers, saying her dog did nothing wrong.
Christine Bonelli was inside her San Carlos Park home Thursday afternoon when she heard two shots. "First I thought it was fireworks and said no, that's gunshots I think," Bonelli said.
She stepped outside to find two deputies and her Foxhound Mix "Harley" with gunshot wounds. "Blood was coming out of his shoulder and on his leg, coming out of his mouth," Bonelli said.
A neighbor tells WINK News he warned deputies that Harley was in the fenced-in backyard, but they continued on. "They said he was in the chair when he came in the yard, and he came running and barking at them, protecting his property, he didn't bite them, he might have shown teeth, but they shot him twice," Bonelli said.
(Excerpt) Read more at winknews.com ...
Botched Mozambique drill, no doubt...
"They felt he was threatening and they shot him and I think they overreacted," Bonelli said.
"What does a dog do? It protects the property and I was told by the police when I got robbed to get a dog.
So I did what they said, and they shot him."
Yep, that’s a very real example of cruel irony.
It’s the blue line.
Lee County Domestic Animal Services fined Bonelli $268 for what they called, Harley's "Threatening/menacing" behavior.
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Unbelievable! The dog had been in a chair and hopped down...
The police were warned before they entered the yard.
I don't like the sue-crazy stuff but if I were this woman--I would hunt an attorney! UFB!!!
I don't know if it helps anything but I have a 'Beware of Dog' on my gate also a 'No Trespass'.
My mother has always told me one should have the 'No Trespass' on each corner of their property, I don't go that far though.
I am aware that cops have misused their authority to unrighteously shoot civilians I do, however (perhaps idealistically) hold to the belief that this trend may be reversed before it becomes more prevalent.
A few noteworthy comments from the comments section of the article (in my opinion):
Brandy January 14th, 2011 3:34 AM
“...I was the one that took Harley to receive medical care and while standing there at the scene waiting for clearance to leave I personally heard the officers talking about the story they were going to go with. I also have done animal rescue for 12 years and know that if a dog is barking at me whether it is a ‘hey, whatcha doing’ bark versus a ‘I’m going to bite you’ bark, and the officer, Officer Pererra, that shot Harley admitted to owning a German Sheperd to me so I would think he would know the difference as well. He could have used his mace, he could have shot at the ground, he could have shot a leg etc. but instead aimed for the head. I’m no perfect marksman myself but if the dog truly were within biting range don’t you think a cop could hit his target? I do not believe a word that Officer Pererra said about how it all happened. There were also approximately 25 elementary school age kids walking down the sidewalk when this happened. How would thier parents feel know an afficer discharged his weapon twice with undue cause that close to thier kids? I’m guessing they’d be livid. Harley is in great hands with Best Friends Animal Hospital and all the love being given by well-wishers, thanks for caring.”
Christine January 13th, 2011 11:13 PM
“I’m Harley’s owner. The gate was secured, it’s always secured. It was the police who opened it and let him run out into the street. One of the officers said, at first, that the dog was running wild and that’s why he was shot. Then, admitted that he’d been shot in the yard. I also found out from the way the bullets entered his body, that he was shot while in a sitting position. How in the world is that a threat to anyone? My dog is a fox hound mix and looks nothing like a pit bull. Perhaps the officers in question should get their eyes checked.”
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About 25 school age kids walking by. Whatever the exact number, children were passing by at the time this dog was unlawfully shot for the crime of being confined in its own yard and barking at a deputy. What if a stray bullet had struck a child and not the dog?
When was the last time you read about a mailman, a heating oil deilvery guy, a utility worker or salesman shooting a family dog?
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True, also doesn’t the mailman carry pepper-spray?
They carried something like that in the 60’s... because the mailman dropped his at my grandmothers house when I was small and I found it—gads!
Why can’t they tazer the dog? The tazer hades out of people...
Since the officer in question had the information from a neighbor who told him there was a dog on the premises, why not carry a few milk bones in his pocket to “neutralize” the threat?
That’s what started the Weaver standoff, the kid shot back.
And not a tear I will have for them.....
Huh?
Have you watched ANY documentaries on Germany, the USSR, or China?
Watch even just one, it will bring you into the reality of just how free we really are.
Since the officer in question had the information from a neighbor who told him there was a dog on the premises, why not carry a few milk bones in his pocket to “neutralize” the threat?
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I don’t know...
I’m reading more and more of these stories and they scare the chit out of me!
I have a couple of Boxers, my youngest is huge and she’s not even a year old.
She has a habit of doing what I call the ‘psych walk’....she will be walking along normal, then do a QUICK straight back reverse and get out of her collar.
I now am working her on a choke-chain, as she manages the same trick in a harness.
She will yap and bark at others but tuck tail and run if they stomp at her.
She’s the biggest baby and people who know barks, as mentioned above— know what’s a threat and what’s not.
Anyhow, reading all these stories has made me work her in the yard because I am scared to death of something happening to her. I would be devastated!
If it happened because somebody opened my gate and hurt/killed her in her own yard, God help us, I would be in jail or prison.
“Deputy had no business in yard, but calling a pit-bull a greyhound is a little on the dishonest side. “
I agree that deliberately labeling a “pit-bull” to be a “greyhound” is “a little on the dishonest side.”
So why did you engage in such dishonesty?
Nowadays with crooks posing as cops, they might want to think before coming into someones backyard and shooting their dog.
And move to a different state
And change his/her name.
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