Officer kicks, then shoots dog in store parking lot

reply to post by SaneThinking


Thanks for your input, SaneThinking. I agree, the real culprits in this tragedy are the owners. Too many people worshiping the 'thug' lifestyle seem to think they have to get some pit bulls, and then do nothing to assure their safety (or the safety of the community) by letting them run loose becaue the gate doesn't latch correctly, or the dogs are able to push through the fence or climb over it.

I guess the thing that irritated and upset me was the very casual and cruel way the dog was kicked, and then quickly put down. Somebody else who is a police officer posted earlier that they are supposed to approach a situation like this in that manner, just go ahead and shoot.

I don't know....there is a world of difference between a pit bull attacking a child, and a few pits rolling around playing roughly. There appears to be no room in our society for dogs on the loose. I just don't think that walking up and killing the animal was the most satisfactory way to handle this, and I have a hard time understanding why animal control wasn't dispatched with a few tranquilizer guns instead. Hell, even a billy club upside the head of an aggressive dog wouldn't have upset me as much as the cold way this was handled.

But what do I know? I'm just a plain old citizen and animal lover. This should be a lesson to all dog owners, especially those who own larger breeds. If one cannot be a good guardian to such dogs, better to not own them at all, because they might end up dead, and not come home at all. As far as I know, the owners never attempted to claim the dogs.

I still have an issue with the officer and his quick trigger finger.

You may as well leave a loaded pistol on the sidewalk as a pair of pit bulls. Both can be deadly if misused.

Where were the owners??
I blame them for leaving the dogs unattended in a public place and should possibly be charged with public endangerment.

Do I blame the officer? Yes and no, he was too quick to resolve the situation using his sidearm. Animal control should have been there to handle it. in their absence he had to make the call.

Knowing nothing of the initial report or the history of the dogs we have to rely on the officers' judgement. He's there to protect the people and hopefully he made the right call.
Unfortunately we will never know if it was the correct call or not.

Again, the owners share the bulk of the blame.
PS - I own a dog and 2 cats. Or they own me, whichever.
I fail to see the reason anyone would want to own a pit. They were bred to bring down bulls. Seriously, who has a need for that?

reply to post by Asktheanimals


Yes, you are correct that the owners are the true culprits in this mess. However, "relying on the officer's judgement" is something I have a problem with. Call it mistrust of authority or what have you, as I saw it, he came ready to shoot, and that's just what he did, after booting the dog in the side.

As I said in my OP, I'm not a fan of pit bulls running loose together, but as I saw it, they were being a couple of stupid dogs, playing roughly and rolling around together, as dogs of this breed tend to do. I thought maybe there was something missing in my original assessment of the video, that perhaps I was not seeing an important piece of the puzzle.

These were obviously somebody's pets, as evidenced by the slain pit bull wagging his tail at the officer after being shot. Being as the owners were in absentia, I'm wondering what the law is when it comes to this? Would it have been more humane to do something differently than just shoot the dog? If so, what could be done?

Police officers have been known to get a bit trigger-happy with their weapons. I know it's a dangerous job, but does every creature, human or animal, have to accept police brutality as part of the officer's judgement call? And shouldn't animal control and the police have some kind of protocol in place for calls such as this? Or am I just living in La La Land?

reply to post by FissionSurplus


lol, maam

that's textbook psychopathic behavior.
he'll be graduating to humans when the thrill goes out of it.

if he hasn't already.

need i say more?

reply to post by DerepentLEstranger


Thank you for saying that. I had thought the same thing....a little too cold-blooded and uncaring, a little too mean, and a little too fast on the draw.

Like I had mentioned earlier, what would this cop have done if two guys were fighting and refused his order to cease and desist? Just pop a cap into one of them?

I don't know, it's a complicated issue because it was done to a dog, but I can easily see this cop doing it to a human being.

reply to post by FissionSurplus

and a little too fast on the draw.

so fast that when he 1st enters left stage he's already got his piece out
any claims he was in fear of his life are BS as demonstrated by
the carefree attitude of the onlookers before he shows up
notice how the surviving dog went and hid behind a guy
the dog he shot fell for his provocation and probably growled

self- defense having been established...

lot of police have been trained to step into your personal space and spray you when they talk
step back or raise your hand to wipe your face, and...

self- defense has been established.

lucky for me i've i few psychological and occult tricks that have spared me any trouble with cops be it in NYC or PR so far
see my ZOMG!!! got stopped by a cop just now, anomalous behavior on officers part thread for more details though they're not shareable i'm afraid

Kind of hard to tell but I`d say the officer made a bad call in shooting it rather then using spray on it.
Now more then being upset with the cop here I want the owners of the dogs hung out to dry letting them run around at all like that.

Reply to post by FissionSurplus

sad part is those pitbulls are, atleast in my book, more friendly than most people.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

Reply to post by FissionSurplus

its not complicated at all, shouldnt matter if its a dog or a human.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

reply to post by FissionSurplus


The Officer was likely by his General Orders in the right. I would not have acted like this however. I probably would have asked the store owner to let me have some dog treats and threw the treats to the wayside. Then I would have stood by to see if they went off on their own. Most cities have their own general orders and procedures for dog complaints but from my experience they're all the same. As for animal control: like I said they don't come out unless the dog is confined. I have on occasion told the dispatcher to tell them I had it confined when in fact I did not. One lady got so upset she gave me the catcher pole and I caught him myself.

Sometime after that incident they trained a hand full of officers with catch poles. But get this; they never gave anyone catch poles! Basically there is a gap of responsibility here and instead of our leaders making a decision they allow officers to take the blunt of the heat. As if being trained to shoot, fight, dissolve domestic situations, investigate crimes, prevent crimes, apprehend fugitives, talk down suicides, hostage negotiate, process crimes scenes, court room testify, and a whole slew of other things weren't enough.

But yeah this guy was just being a jerk.

reply to post by FissionSurplus

I sincerely hope that murdering POS has the book thrown at him,unfortunately though, more than likely nothing will be done about this.

Truly sad.
,

Well, thanks y'all. Your reactions reinforce what I suspected. The officer was annoyed by such a call, he came to shoot that dog, and didn't give that dog much of a chance before shooting it.

This whole incident points to, as Dynamike pointed out, the gap in public services when it comes to situations such as this. If it had happened in a larger, more progressive city, and the dogs weren't pit bulls, it may have sparked the city to close this gap by either requiring animal services to be there first, or giving police officers long poles to catch the dogs, or perhaps tranquilizing darts.

But it's Lubbock, Texas, and the police are idolized by the citizens (well, by most of them, anyway). Pit bulls are typically owned by the poorer residents. There will be no reprimanding of the officer. The owners never came forward. I do not know what happened to the other dog who was also kicked aside as he tried to see after his slain buddy.

I do not live in that city (I live approximately 100 miles away, but cities are far and few inbetween out here, so I get the Lubbock news). I do know that the cops out here in west Texas tend to be "gun ho" and you really do not want to make them angry, they will #### you up. Not all of them, of course, but many of them.

Most likely, the officer fielded a bunch of high-fives from his pals when he got back to the station, the dogs went to the shelter (and it wouldn't surprise me if the survivor was summarily euthanized), a few people like me were shocked, the rest don't care, and life goes on.

Originally posted by Asktheanimals

I fail to see the reason anyone would want to own a pit. They were bred to bring down bulls. Seriously, who has a need for that?

edit on 19-9-2012 by Asktheanimals because: added comment

The reason I own my dog is because I fail too see what a breed has to do with dog ownership. As I stated in my original reply "there are no bad dogs, only bad dog owners". Any animal due to its living conditions can be unbehaved, violent, and aggressive, little dogs and big dogs alike.

I got my girl as a pup, I raised her from the first moment we were allowed to have her, after seperation from her mother, she was always loved always treated as a friend, never struck, and her attitude reflects that upbringing.

I own her because she is the most loving animal I have had, her best friends are a small himilayan cat, a obease pug, and a 17# boston terrier. I own here not cause she's a big, mean looking dog but because she is a beautiful animal with lots of love to give back.

You mention what their original breed was for, and yes we no longer need animals to take down bulls, we have cattle prongs and all sort of other inhumane ways to fall them now. But I think you let the past use mislead you from what mother types of animals pits can be, how loyal and friendly they are if treated with the same sort of loyalty and respect.

Maybe you have had a bad experience in the past, or you just fail to use your own sense of perception to guide your own thought, I feel if you were to be in the presence of loved animals you would see that the general misconception of there breed is a long way off from what the dogs can be.

With an open mind you may as well see as I stated before that, "there are no bad dogs, only bad dog owners"

I own my dog because, I love her, she loves me and my family and friends, she is well behaved, and non aggressive. I love my dog cause she is like a second mother to my child, I love and have my pit cause she is a dog like any other dog, and treated well she will remian just a dog regardless of breed. I have a pit not for status or because I am a douchebag, but because I understand the animals and the way they behave. I have my pit because I'm not afraid to give an animal a chance to have a great upbringing, loved bye all around her. I have my pit cause like any dog owner she's my dog and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Ban bad dog owners, not breeds, cause just like people there are good and bad but they should never be lumped into one catagroy either way based on past misconceptions.....

SaneThinking

Pit bulls are a potentially dangerous breed but the officer summarily walked up, kicked and shot the dog without being in real danger. It almost looked like the dogs were playing or wrestling (our dogs do that)....Where was the taser?

Pit bulls are a potentially dangerous breed but the officer summarily walked up, kicked and shot the dog without being in real danger. It almost looked like the dogs were playing or wrestling (our dogs do that)....Where was the taser? Notice how he had the gun drawn and waved off bystanders in his line of fire first....I am thinking that he pretty much intended to kill the dog when he drew his weapon.

reply to post by FissionSurplus


You're absolutely right, FissionSurplus. I would be happy to help change some of those city procedures if anyone has the time to. You can look me up: Officer M. Geil, St Petersburg Police Dept, Florida.

There is obviously some concern for the officer since the officer's name has not been released. This story also falsely states the dog charged the officer:

Link

Do American cops come from a specifically stupid brand of police.

This is one of the reasons I never want to visit America, the cops all seems like idiots, no common sense, no grasp of reality.

reply to post by SaneThinking


The problem is there are many people who own pits who are not like you, who don't raise their dogs with love and respect but with harshness and violence instead.
I agree that there are no "bad dogs" only bad owners who are usually the ones who want a particular breed to intimidate others and use as attack animals if necessary.

reply to post by Asktheanimals


That's a very true point, most buy them to put them on a chain and look after there grow ops where I am from truth be told.

But I have myself and many friends who in my neighborhood own pits and our neighbors for the most part know all of us and our animals. It to me is sad that when you do see the dogs they are normally with the guy in the shiney shirt, with bedazzeled jeans and a man purse. Next to his if you can call it GF, I say that cause I usually can't tell what it is under the big shades, lumps of make-up, and snooty attitude. And agree again that the owners give off a terrible perception of there animal as well.

But I just hate the lumping, my dog and my friends dogs are all well taken care of, we have been trying to break common misconceptions by having well maintained, well behaved animals. A little love and care and any beast can be a friend. And after those who remain afraid meet my dog they see that it really is a bad owner not a bad breed of dog.

SaneThinking