US Cops shooting dogs - An non US Citizens view

a reply to: Snakedoctorjw
In that case, where it was on the property and under the control of the owners, the police are wrong. But in many cases, the animals are not under the control of the owners, are running around. Posing a potential threat to either the local population, or could get hurt or hit by a car.

Where I live, there are 2 kinds of dog owners, those who take care of their animals, and are properly restrained, and those who do not. And at least once a month, while going down the road, there is a dead dog on the side of the road, all cause it was running around. It ultimately is a lack of responsibility on the part of the owner.

a reply to: sdcigarpig

Right, because things never happen beyond the owners control that could lead to a dog getting loose. this isn't a black or white scenario as you seem make it out to be. Sometimes things happen and it isn't necessarily indicative of an irresponsible owner.

originally posted by: sdcigarpig
a reply to: Bedlam
You are not reading the full posting, only want you want to. As I have stated before, if the animal is under the control of the owner, properly restrained in say a fenced in yard, or on a leash, where the owner has full control over the animal, if the police shoots it, then the police is in the wrong. If the animal is running loose on the street or where it is not under control of the owner, then the police are in the right.

You can not have it both ways, cause eventually, if animals are allowed to run free, there will be problems. I guess that all of the kind hearted people would prefer to have a pack of dogs running rampant in the streets, then the cry will be why don't the authorities do something? Or would you prefer a more legal aspect, like say San Francisco that makes laws that restricts a persons right to get a dog as a pet?

this is why municipalities have animal control officers. If police are so scared for their lives they need to find a new line of work and not just shoot to kill any animal who is not on a leash or behind a fence.

a reply to: BeliefInReality

Or anyone the cops happen to mark as a perp at any given moment, right?

True story here. About 2 months ago a kid my kids play with down the street ran away. This kid hadn't come around in about a month but the parents were going frantic looking for him. The mom ended up sending the cops to our house to see if the kid was hiding here. It was about 10:00 at night ( I have 6 kids) which were scattered all around the house, and 2 dogs. I was on my couch half asleep with the misses and a knock comes on the door. She gets up thinking it's our neighbor across the street because he is a pita like that at weird hours. I hear her talking and because the temp is about 5* out she opens the door and lets the cops in. Just so happens my dogs were out back during the knock and my 10 yr old decided to let them back in just as the police were coming into the house. All I thought was crap this is not gonna go well, the dog in my avatar is one of the dogs. He made a b line right for the front door to see who the new person was like always, at this point I am still on the couch. He walked up did what dogs do with the sniff thing and then wagged his tail looking for a scratch. The cop did jump a little when he first saw the dog coming but in the end it all went ok. The messed up part is having to sit my kids down after the cop left and explain why letting the dog in at that time was not a wise move. I will also add I have a sticker on my front door that says "Can you run faster than 2000 ft per second? If not then you better be bullet proof." Not to mention the anti safe act stickers on my vehicle among other hunting accessories. Yeah it was an awkward night to say the least which led to an argument with the wifie about just letting cops in for a matter that could have been handled on the porch. Yes I don't like police in my living room for any reason.....

a reply to: Snakedoctorjw
Are you talking about a family pet, or are you talking about an animal that has gone through months, if not a few years of training and is always under the control of its handler? After all a police animal is trained, and the handler has absolute control over it at all times, as the animal will stop unless it is bid to continue on.

And most police animals are not brought out, unless the police have good reason to, nor is there any question if the animal has had shots or not.

And like all things, there are good and bad. And if one always have problems with the police, then the question should be ask, is if the police or the person? To judge a group based off of say the actions of a few is prejudicial and ultimately ends up being bigoted. And in the case of the police, it is really funny how people complain when they do their job, yet will scream if the police are not around when they are really needed.

The issue here is not just about if the police are good or bad, but about police shooting dogs. And ultimately in many cases it is the owners fault for failing to keep their animal under control, and the animal ends up getting shot, cause it is running around. And in those cases where the animal is under the control of the owner, then the police are in the wrong and should be held accountable. When the animal is running around and not under control of the police, the police are in the right.

a reply to: peter vlar
Where I live, it is. The owners of dogs who take responsibility tend to keep their dogs in either outdoor kennels, or indoors, except to take the animal out, or their yards are fenced in.
The other persons, who take no responsibility for their animals, let them run free, and they do, going from yard to yard, all around, in and out of the street, day after day. These animals become a nuisance to the neighborhood and the sad part is that they do get hit by cars.

a reply to: peter vlar
I would agree, however statistic don't lie. Only 30% of the dogs that are picked up by animal control are reclaimed by the owner, care to guess what happens to a dog that is not adopted out? It is put down.

originally posted by: schuyler
You worry about a couple of dogs shot in the USA? How about worrying about dogs being eaten in the Far East? It's more than a few.

Different cultures see different things in animals. To Indians those of us in the US slaughtering and eating cows is offensive. Where you need to worry is when a culture cares about an animal like us in the US care about dogs and they still kill them for no reason.

a reply to: sdcigarpig
I can see your point in some instances. However, ad I'm a tad biased in this instance, I live in a pretty rural area with a couple of acres. My yard is fenced for the dogs of which I have 4. Sometimes things happen tht are beyond our control. 19 days ago all 4 got out of the fenced in yard. Because of the spring thaw and the amount of water in the soil combined with me of the digs jumping up with his paws on top of the fence to greet me the posts around the gate became loose which led to there being enough wiggle room toget the gate open. It was a team effort because the day after they got out my 11 year old St. Bernard was witnessed by my kids letting the latch and opening the gate on her own. Nw mind you, because of prior issues I had chained and tied the gate shut. Unbeknownst to me the chain had somehow disappeared. It is still nowhere to be found. Tr St. Bernard and the Newfoundland are my wife's dogs. As a disabled vet waiting on hip surgery I have two Akitas who are my service animals. They keep me sane as well as providing me with a little additional physical security as well as mental security because they literally look after my kids as though they're all art of the same pack. The St Benrd and the Newfie are older and have similar physical issues. Myself. The St has severe hip dysphasia and the Newfie has an ACL on its way out. They can't and don't make it very far. The Akitas are in their prime and can run like the wind. I don't have a chance in hell of catching them when on a tear. Anyway, enough background lol. 19 days ago they all got out, te 2 older dogs were retrieved immediately. Te 1 yr old Akita
Came back on his own after 5 days and the 6 year old that I took in after being abused and literall worked with every day for the 1st two years to get her to trust me. She and I have a bond that goes beyond what I share with any other person. She isn't aggressive at all and is very skittish around strangers, men especially. She will cower and run from them in open ground but on her territory, I.e. my home and property she will do any and everything she can to protect me. She still isn't back and its been almost 3 weeks. There was nothing I could have done differently to avoid them getting out so I can see the other side of your equation in that sometimes $h_t happens that is completely beyond the control of the owner and I can say with a high degree if certainty that if anyone, police or not harmed any of them you would likely see me on the evening news claiming PTSD as a defense for 2nd degree murder or manslaughter.

Don't get me wrong, I'm well aware that some people are completely irresponsible and should likely not even be owning dogs or any other pet for that matter. I've rescued more animals from worthless people than I can count including one who was thrown out of a moving car on the NY State Thruway. Those people make me nauseous and I can relate to the animals more than I can most people so I'm fully Aware that my opinion doesn't stem from a neutral place. But the fact remains that when a dog is shot in the US by law enforcement every 98 minutes there's something seriously wrong with that and a police officers instinct to shoot first instead of getting back in their vehicle and trying contact the home owner to secure the animal or animal control is in most cases gutless and cowardly. The problem here seems to be that most in this thread, myself included are arguing in terms of blanket statements on one side or the other when it simply is NOT a black and white issue in many cases.

originally posted by: sdcigarpig
a reply to: peter vlar
I would agree, however statistic don't lie. Only 30% of the dogs that are picked up by animal control are reclaimed by the owner, care to guess what happens to a dog that is not adopted out? It is put down.

I I am all to week aware, but that's almost a topic for an entirely separate thread. The statistics disgust me on this issue and because of my currently missing dog I am all to aware of how prevalent the issue is as I continuously call AC, local shelters and vets as well as look through their websites where its impossible to ignore the number of animals with time limits left on their life. If I could get a bigger yard and a sturdier fence I would take them all, but its just not feasible.