There’s a perfectly sensible manual designed to help you deal with dogs. If you give a damn, read & heed it.
We non-cops might want to see that our local PDs get copies of the thing.
It would be good for everybody to see more stories like this (H/T naturegirl) and a lot fewer of these.
I don’t think it’s so much about the dogs, as about intimidating the owner. I doubt that most cops fear dogs, or don’t know how to handle them. (They should also know that barking dogs don’t bite – at least not while they’re barking.)
When pets are killed, that acts as an emotional taser on the owner, rendering him or her distraught and unable to cope with the situation or the cop. That gives the cop an edge.
It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that cop schools are now urging cops to kill pets. They have reportedly bashed kittens against the wall or stomped them. Surely kittens are not intimidating. But the act of killing a pet *is.*
Agreed Pat. Just like getting you genital groping and sodomy, it’s all about intimidation.
“Cops”, “sensible” ???
I *do* doubt that most cops don’t fear dogs, or don’t know how to handle them, it’s the personality type that likes that job and seeks that job out. I think most of them are a bit skittish, and jumpy and full of insecurities. It’s why they project arrogance so much. Dogs don’t respond to arrogance and it overloads a cops senses resulting in fight or flight.
Not that the intimidation factor above is wrong.
Er, maybe I should have wrote, “Not that the intimidation factor above is incorrect.”
Don’t want anyone thinking I’m ok with puppy-cide or kitty-bashing.
Thanks 🙂
I read the other day about the lab-retriever mix that killed the 2 month old….the dog was a new addition to the family, the whole story is sad……
It seems when one or two get a new lease on life, there’s another sad story gone wrong……
The manual seems reasonable (I downloaded a copy and will read it thoroughly), so I’d like to see it in the hands of local law enforcement, animal control officers and owners. I’ve been worried about encounters between my dog (a Blue Heeler) and other dogs and generally about encounters with law enforcement. I’ve read too many sad stories about policemen shooting family pets!
I’ve ordered 5 copies and will try to get them in the hands of our local police, sheriffs, and animal control personnel. The booklet is free and everyone on this site that cares should try to get copies to such people.
This has nothing to do with dogs, but it does show the mentality of many cops who think they can do whatever they wish *because* they are cops. Increasingly, this thinking has taken over their actions. (Having driven on the New Jersey Turnpike – even come to a standstill due to heavy traffic – I shudder at this scenario.)
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/04/23/state-troopers-nfl-star-implicated-in-death-race-2012-on-nj-highway/?test=latestnews
Cops kill random dogs for the same reason they kill random people. Because they can and they know they will ultimately get away with it. They face more paperwork for expending the ammunition than for the killing.
As the soon-to-be-wife of a cop, I know these cases are few & far between. In fact, most of the cops I know are training to be in the K9 squad which is a “cushy” position in our area. I asked them about it a few years ago when a German Shepard was shot & asked what they thought. They were all honest, most of them said if the dog came at them aggressively, then the obvious response was to “neutralize” the threat.
I don’t think most owners consider how much risk it is to face a strange dog in a situation where there are criminal elements around. If someone burst through my door, my dog will absolutely go bonkers & act aggressively & she’s an Aussie but man can she bite! I had a Shepard before her & I can tell you that if I didn’t know her, I’d be intimidated too.
Cops are human beings, with families & kids & pets of their own. You rarely hear the good side because society wants you to think of them as “the bad guy”- kind of like pit bulls if you think about it. Just because there are bad pit bulls should we put them all down? So why would you be so flippant about the people that save lives everyday???? It really is a shame that people are so close minded. Maybe you should go on a ride along with your local force, ask about their K9 training & how officers are trained.
I’m sorry you feel that way, Bellamotives. Believe me when I say *I’m* sorry I feel the way I do. But we are not BORN with animosity toward cops.
I was born and raised in an era when the cop _was_ the good guy. When he walked the beat and knew his neighborhood and cared about it. When he helped little old ladies across the street. When he took a ten-year-old candy thief by the hand and walked him home to his parents, and instilled right vs wrong on the way home. When he was taught how to handle both people AND dogs, and took the time to talk them out of anger, prejudice, and threats, and knew how to _humanely_ avert attack. Most of all, he could and would explain reasons for his actions.
But this doesn’t exist anymore. Everyone is some form of enemy to the cop – assumed to be either criminal, terrorist (an overused and mislabeled word at best), or some form of sociopathic menace to be gotten off the streets.
Too many laws are written every day, and cops are supposed to “enforce the law”, whether the law is known by the perp or not, whether the law is reasonable or not. Perhaps cops should be taught “law nullification” (like jury nullification) wherein they have the right – without repercussion! – to refuse to obey a law that has no justice behind it. Perhaps cops should be taught – TAUGHT, not sloughed off or ignored – the meaning and importance of the Constitution to our society. Perhaps cops should be taught what constitutes _humane_ practices toward both people and pets.
Too quick to pull the trigger… too quick to tase… too quick to assume guilt (which is not their job; they do not represent Law, but Order)… and too quick to intimidate and ‘play dirty’ – by killing pets.
If a K-9 dog was shot, knifed, peppersprayed or kicked by a scared suspect, there would be hell to pay – NO EXCUSE and no leniency. Why should the cop be excused? There is more than one way to “neutralize” an animal.
And no one here is being “flippant”!
“They were all honest, most of them said if the dog came at them aggressively, then the obvious response was to “neutralize” the threat.”
This business of who’s a threat is the issue. Everyone’s a threat to cops as far as they are concerned and feeling threatened has become a get out of jail card. I’ve had a few parking tickets in my life (paid with in days of getting them so don’t immediately assume they went to warrants and the cops can shoot, main or whatever they choose to do to me, my family, or my pets), and yet its been ten years since I was treated with anything from disinterested contempt to or given strict bureaucratic notice to obey their every command. Closed minded is a funny business. Perhaps you should look to the log in your own eye. And come back in ten years and we’ll talk more about how you feel then… if you’re not too afraid to talk.
Bellamotives seems a lot like the cop-wife in the comments on this page:
http://ericpetersautos.com/2012/01/05/several-kinds-of-cops/
I wonder what her reaction would be to that thread where most of the People do try and enlighten her quite like Pat and EN tried to do here. Good try you two.
rustynail — I meant to say something earlier but lost track of time in this week’s busy-ness. I really didn’t think anybody would order or even recommend that manual for their local PD. Fantastic that you did.
And yeah, I see the fear with cops and heelers. Although they don’t have the bad rep of pitbulls, rotties, dobies, etc., I know that ACDs have been defined as one of the “dangerous breeds” in some places. And it doesn’t take much to imagine a loyal ACD rushing toward any threat and giving it a good quick nip.
I plan to email my local police chief about the manual — though around here our cops don’t seen terribly prone to shoot first and ask questions later. They appear to be fairly decent & careful folks.
Hey, maybe I’ll get to care for Dragon. I’m in Longmont, too and we’re about ready to launch our Safe Pets Sitting Service in a couple of weeks!
Safe Pets Sitting Service? Shelter volunteers petsitting? That would be cool; am I understanding that correctly?