In the past few days I have now read two stories concerning police officers shooting dogs. The most recent story is about Cisco who was shot by a police officer Austin, Texas. The police officer arrived at the WRONG address when he was called out for a domestic disturbance, pulled a gun on unsuspecting Michael Paxton when Cisco ran out from the backyard. Cisco and Paxton had been playing with a frisbee in his backyard before the officer showed up.
The other story is about Parrot the pit bull who was shot after being thrown down a flight of stairs by an officer. Please read this story and view the video for more information.
I don't understand why these officers would shoot without hesitation. Or why that officer threw Parrot over a railing down a flight of stairs. I worked in a Pet Hotel and I saw a fellow employee pick up a dog and throw him across the pet yard. It was his immediate reaction when two large dogs got into a fight and the other employee in the yard couldn't break them up with an airhorn (which is company policy). Not the 'prettiest' solution, but it worked. When we looked back over the situation it was the best way to separate the dogs immediately. Then again, he wasn't throwing the dog down a flight of stairs. In Parrot's case the dogs had already been separated and the officer had Parrot pinned down. The rest was unnecessary.
What do you think about the way these police officer's handled the situation?
The stories tear at my heart. I don't understand why owners are not given the opportunity to get control of their dogs before the situation escalates. There was a similar situation in our city last year - the officer went to the wrong address and the owner begged the officer to stay in the vehicle while he secured his dog. The officer got out of the vehicle, the dog charged before the owner could get the dog. The officer shot the dog in front of the family.
ReplyDeleteEducation and reform needs to happen. I know it's not always the case, but I know a lot of bias and misinformation exists among law enforcement, especially when it comes to pit bull type dogs.
ReplyDeleteThose are very sad and unfortunate situations. Here in Mass a off duty police officer was out hunting in the woods and he saw some movement in the woods and shot a Golden Retriever. It's very upsetting considering he was a police officer. I also bring Trinity into the woods a lot.
ReplyDeleteI am so paranoid of this happening with Schultz. I have no doubt in my mind that if I were to be approached by a threatening-looking, male police officer, that he would want to "protect" me. We had a pit bull in Tulsa whose owner was hit by a car and had to be shot because he wouldn't let paramedics in to help his owner. They tried to get a tranquilizer but it was going to take too long. It was so sad!
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