Quote:
Originally posted by Frank the Tank@Jun 9 2005, 08:45 AM
I can think of better ways to subdue a dog besides pumping 2 bullets into it. Poor doggy. Poor owner. Can't imagine coming outside to that scene. I'd lose it.
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To be fair, the second shot was to put the dog down to end its suffering.
I feel very sorry for the dog, the owner and the officers involved. I can't imagine that it would be a favourable experience for any involved.
Giving the officer who shot the dog the benefit of the doubt I think it is easy to see how the situation could have resulted.
The officers arrive at the scene of a domestic disturbance (a potentially hostile situation to begin with) and asked the owner to secure the dog in another room before they talked to him regarding the situation. The officer who remained outside the home probably had every reason to believe that the dog had been secured as per their instructions. The emergence of the dog could certainly have been viewed as a potentially hostile action.
German shepherds are known to be used for attack dogs thus there was probably an heightened awareness of the damage that could have been inflicted by it. It is very possible that the dog ran at the officer in an excited manner (like the kind animals use to greet new visitors who have obviously come to see them... why else would people be there?) and it was misinterpreted as aggression.
While it is very easy to blame the police for the death of the dog (when pets are involved people often need someone to blame) the officer who made the initial shot most likely thought he was protecting himself.
While there was certainly an error in judgement if the dog had been hostile what was he supposed to do? Let the dog attack him?
Don't get me wrong, I feel sad about the incident and if the investigation rules that the officer was in the wrong then I want him to be punished for it.
It just makes me uneasy when incidents like this happen and everyone starts painting the police like stormtrooping, heartless gestapo (not saying that you have done this).