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First, I have a great respect for most law enforcement officers, and in my years volunteering at a shelter I've seen many of them go out of their way to help dogs in need.
Increasingly, the news has been reporting on dogs killed in police encounters. I don't think this has been happening more often, but the news has realized these incidents are of interest to people. It's sometimes a tragic necessity, sometimes it's not clear whether the shooting was justified or not, and there are times when it's obvious that the dog did not need to die. The amount of training policemen get in dealing with dogs is often inadequate. Of course, they should be able to protect themselves when in danger, but a perceived threat is not always a real threat, and there may sometimes be ways to avoid the situation in the first place.
The National Canine Research Council and Safe Humane Chicago have collaberated on a program to educate police forces on dogs in the community. If you are concerned about this issue, it might be worthwhile to find out if your local law enforcement agency is aware of, and uses, this or another training program.
Not sure on that one. Dog attacked, he protected himself. Owner's need to keep their dog restrained better.
This one was clearly the fault of the cop, who opened latch on a fence, and entered the backyard, and shot the dog. COP said he was looking for a small kid, who could not have unlocked the gate anyway. And it appears the cop was near the gate and should have been able to get out. I'm not ashamed to call the COP a coward for shooting the dog. And the cop needs to get fired. Utah police officer allegedly kills man’s pet dog | KHON2
I used to work at an animal hospital as a receptionist. One of our clients got arrested for DUI and upon her arrest told the cops she was worried about her English Mastiff being alone in her backyard until she could post bail. She gave the cops permission to retrieve the dog and bring him to us to be boarded for the night, and they actually went, picked up the dog and brought him to our clinic. It was quite a sight to see a police cruiser pull up with a 250 lb. dog sitting in the back with his head hanging out the window!
So I think there's good and bad in how cops handle dogs.
I have a filter on my gmail to filter all incidents in the news with "cop shoots dog" or "police shoot dog" in the title. I have included the titles for just two weeks worth of incidents. (there are more but I ran out of room for my attachments)
There is a great deal of reporting of law enforcement shooting dogs. While I do believe that some better training needs to be done for law enforcement and how they deal with dogs, I keep in mind that just like the Pit bull, the media can make anything seem like it is out of control.
Law enforcement come in contact with hundreds of thousands of dogs without incident. When an innocent dog gets shot, it's a terrible situation. I would just die if my dog got shot.
I went to a Law enforcement forum and spoke to Police officers about how they would handle situations.
"If you got a call for domestic disturbance, and you arrived at the home, to a closed gate, a large dog came running out of the house, barking at you, what would you do?" Many cops answered they would simply shoot the dog.
I told them, if the dog was trained to attack, or was going to be aggressive, don't you think the animal would be attacking the person who was attacking it's owner? Chances are the dog is excited, most likely barking for help.
But how can we expect our law enforcement to risk being bitten. We can't.
There are systems that can be put in place, non fatal ways of containing or controlling a dog.
I asked, "What can I do to help ensure my dog will not be shot by law enforcement in the event they ever have to come to my home for a 911 call?" The response, "Make sure your dog comes to you immediately the first time you call him"
A dog owner can even go so far as to get their dog use to taking commands from strangers, like law enforcement, post a big sign on your fence. The dog's name, tell them on the sign, "the dog will sit and stay" Dog is not aggressive.
Communication. Good training. For both Law Enforcement and Dog Owners.
To me, almost all of the responsibility rests with the dog owner, especially if they know someone is coming. I don't care that it's private property--you invite a police officer, mail carrier, satellite dish installer etc to your house, and then expect him to tolerate your at-large animal? No, no, no. When I know the satellite TV guy is coming, I automatically put my dog up in such a way that I KNOW he won't be a bother to the satellite TV guy. It's the courteous thing to do. Hello?
It becomes a harrier deal when a cop shows up unannounced. That is trickier. However, especially when it's a situation of that the home owner knows the cop is coming, I'm tired of hearing the usual line of that cops ought to know how to understand dogs. To me, that's not their job, nor should it be expected to be. Their job is to investigate the burglary or break up the fight etc, not deal with someone's dog. The same goes for the mail carrier--their job is to deliver the mail, not deal with your dog. The satellite TV installer--same thing, it's their job to install satellite TV. It is NOT their job to be the "dog whisperer."
I mean, how hard is this to understand? Heck, about 2 years ago, we had a plumber come over and while doing repairs our 2 kids were sort of hovering over him watching him. At some point it occurred to me "maybe I should tell my 2 kids to leave him alone so he can do his job," and in fact right about that time the plumber asked that very thing of me. He used a very nice tone, sure, but he still asked. He basically said that it was distracting and that he didn't want to unintentionally hurt them.
I totally agreed with him and gently instructed my children to play in their room for the time being. Did you hear me yelling to the plumber "well you know you're going to encounter kids on the job, hello, you're a plumber, you go into people's homes, people have kids, and it's their home, if you can't deal with it, get another job" etc? No, I did not, yet that is exactly what many dog owners say about mail carriers or police officers with respect to their dogs. And, well I'm sorry, but my children are far more important than any dog, because--duh, they're children, they're human beings. If I can do it with my children, dog owners can sure do it with their dogs. Period.
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