A followup on the Cop-Kills-Dog-In-Lakeview story from yesterday - the New Orleans Police are saying the police officer's life was in danger, and blaming the dog's owner. Really:
"If your dog does not receive people well, you need to secure that animal because an officer has to protect his or her life," Richardson said. "It is an unfortunate accident, but one of those things that couldn't be prevented in this case."
Accident?? My ass. One shot is an accident. Eight shots is either someone who lost control of the situation and panicked, or someone who missed "When To Use Something Other Than Deadly Force Day" at the Academy. Either way, I have serious questions about having somebody that trigger-happy out on the street.
Look, the dog was in a fenced yard. He was "secure." And it was his territory - of course he was going to bark and growl! Mr. Police officer, you are supposed to be in control of the situation. So back off. Use pepper spray. Go get a scrap of meat from Rouse's and make friends. But eight shots?????
If something like this "couldn't be prevented," the NOPD has a problem. A big problem.
The local SPCA is recommending that large dog owners post a sign, and it seems some folks are already putting up "Beware of Dog" signs.
A "Beware of Police" sign might be equally in order.
UPDATE: This isn't a local story anymore:
The Chicago Tribune has picked up on it.
In a forum, friends of the dog's owners speak out. One of them is vet who was monitoring the dog's progress after recent spinal surgery. In a follow-up post they said this:
"ALSO -- there are two placards on both doors that say there are two Doberman dogs inside - even has their names on it. It's in case of fire or emergency. My wife sent them when they got the dogs a few years ago. We have the same placards/stickers on our front door. If anyone would like one, I can prob get some and mail them out to you."
If that is true, then the officer knew the dogs were there and this could have been prevented. The NOPD statement is starting to ring very hollow.
1 comment:
I'm a dog trainer and behaviorist who, along with the doberman's owner, will appear on New Orleans' local news channel (WWL) on Sunday morning. I'll talk about why it was unlikely that the murdered dog would've lunged at an intruder and I'll go over ways in which a territorial dog could be deterred without using lethal force. The segment will air at 10:30 on WWL and 12:30 on Cox.
If you know anyone that's scared of dogs, I have an article on my website that discusses facing unleashed dogs. The site is located at www.CanineRefine.com.
Please sign this petition to urge Louisiana Police Departments to train their officers in safe handling of pets.
Thanks for your time,
Dave Lorch
Canine Refine, LLC
http://www.caninerefine.com
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