Justified shooting?

[Glassunion]

I wonder? A trained Federal Police Officer, with a German Shepard, felt threatened.

I'm not saying the officer was right or wrong. He may have been absolutely justified in what he did. But I have a few very simple points.

If you've ever been to a dog park, they are very hectic environments, with a lot of people and dogs running around. In dog parks it is not uncommon for dogs to fight. Chaos at best. Some dog parks have rules as far as what types of dogs are allowed (certain working dogs, neutered, etc).

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/anne-arundel/bs-md-ar-dog-fight-shooting-20100803,0,7786058.story

[qnr]

1. Knowing my huskies, I can't see it, I just can't. I'm happy to see that they've

reversed their initial decision and are conducting a full investigation, along with an investigation being conducted at the officer's workplace.

[TheWraith]

2. I can't see any way in which the officer's behavior is justified.

Even if there were a serious dogfight in progress, to resort to shooting the other dog so quickly shows callous disregard for his responsibilities.

[Callisto32]

3. Cops just seem to like shooting dogs...

It may seem like I'm being flip, but it is the only explanation that makes any sense. How else do you explain the trail of dead dogs in the wake of this nation's "peace officers?"

At least even money says the investigation will find "the officer followed all applicable procedures, and did nothing wrong."

Add a militarized police force with the fact that most people know fuck all about canine behavior....

[Remmah2]

4. IMHO Bad call on the LEO.

When we introduced our second shepherd to our first they duked it out for 10 minutes to establish dominance. Blood was drawn but it was not as serious as you think. From 20 years experience with shepherds this is the norm. It's a very, serious, hard play fight. After that first 10 minutes both dogs have been inseparable friends ever since. They still play fight but blood was drawn only once. My brother was a shepherd breeder and years ago told me this was the norm. I've seen the same interaction between his numerous shepherds. I think the LEO overreacted.

[cleanhippie]

5. No, not justified. Not even a little bit.

I take my boxer to dog parks all the time. Sometimes, some dogs do not get along, and thats okay. Usually, the owner of the MORE aggressive dog will leash and remove the animal, end of problem. I cannot imagine any scenario in an off-leash area (and remember, the LEO kept his dog ON-leash, what the fuck for?) where killing the dog is necessary.
Sounds like a good case for a civil suit.

[burrfoot]

6. Very, very hard to imagine this being justified.

Even though we don't know all the facts, not having been in this officer's shoes....I just have a hard time seeing it. I've got a 16mo old Vizsla and have spent a LOT of time in the park with him, almost daily and often twice a day, for a little over a year now. I have seen a lot of dogs come in and out around the group of regulars, I've seen fights where blood was drawn, I've even seen people who got a nip when they intervened in the wrong way or got playing too hard. I've seen people get into arguments when their dogs go at it, even to the point where the sheriffs have been called.

NEVER have I seen a situation which called for a dog to be shot. There are SOOO many other ways to defuse the situation. Shit, even kicking a dog would be a more reasonable response to a fight than shooting it.

Lots of questions, too. Why was his shepherd still on the leash? Why didn't he just drag it away? If he had time to yell for the husky's owner, he had time to choose other options. If this was such a dangerous situation, the dogs must have literally been all over each other- how did he know he wouldn't hit his own?

Again, who can say what exactly the situation was. I know if I was carrying and I thought my dog was going to be killed, I'd be very tempted to do the same thing. But with all these other factors...surrounded by other dogs and people, in a controlled environment, neighbors surrounding the park....it just doesn't add up in my mind.

YMMV, of course.

[MicaelS]

7. Sound completely unjustified...

And yes, I do think some cops just like deliberately killing dogs.

[SteveM]

8. Nope. Way out of bounds. nt

[Pavulon]

9. He was not in uniform. DOD guy off base

in plain clothes is just another asshole with a gun to me. Drawing and firing a weapon in that manner is a great way to get shot by another officer or by a person whose dog you just killed.

This reeks of poor training and stupidity or both. He is lucky someone did not plug him.

[east texas lib]

10. IMHO he was way too quick on the trigger...

But not having been there...:shrug:

[jody]

11. Incident contrasts the vast differences between urban and rural problems. My first 20 years were on

a farm where every neighbor had dogs but "dog fights" never occurred because dogs rarely encountered each other.

Contrast that with urban areas where neighbors with dogs have to deal with "dog fights".

Given the murder rate of 13 or so per 100 k in large cities versus rates of around 3 in rural areas and the obvious conclusion is population density and size of urban areas is involved in murder rates and dog fights.

Perhaps we should ban large cities, not firearms!

[Glassunion]

12. Ha! +1

[Callisto32]

13. Why people choose to live in the asphalt jungle is beyond me....