Austin Police shoot man's dog (Cisco, Post: insurance, car, friendly)

[scottsheehan026]

No it's just the video everyone has watched I assume. The distance is just a guess. I assume the dog was not moved and the owner took a video of the dog that showed an angle to the street. So you can see how far away the street was from the dog's position. And I have no way of knowing how far into the drive way the officer had gotten. But from the time the officer walked out of camera angle to when you can hear the shot it wasn't that far. Add to that according to the officer he was backing up so that puts him even further away from where the dog was shot.

Now my theory would not hold up in court. And I am sure during the investigation they will ask the officer were he was and measure off the distance. But, I don't have to be exact I am not the court. I am just looking at some very shaky evidence and giving my option. And my option is that the officer had more time than I originally though to defend himself. He had options the dog was still some distance from him.

[austinnerd]

Originally Posted by scottsheehan026

Okay I have now seen the video. Now my question is the drive way looks very long. From where the dog was shot to up where the officer would have been after the time from walking out of camera angle to the shot. It looks like the dog was shot around 20-25 feet from the officer. I had a picture in my head of a dog getting shot at the last second and slidding to a halt at the officers feet. I now say the officer had plenty of time to holster the gun and pull pepper spray.

You're kidding right. There is a dog (which have been known to be somewhat quick (i.e. they can cover a large initial distance very quickly)) about 20 ft away from you and someone who you believe might have just been strangling a female even closer to you right next to a vehicle (which may or may not have a weapon inside it, since folks have been known to occasionally have weapons in their vehicle) and that it is reasonable to expect someone to properly holster their weapon, pull out pepper spray, to aim and spray a reasonably small creature moving at you at about 20 ft/s in the face (since spraying it anywhere else won't help and do the math, 20ft/s, which is quite reasonable for a dog, gives you about a second to react) while keeping an eye on the suspect and of course hoping that the spray is actually effective to begin with? So you are claiming that roughly a second is "plenty of time" to do all of this?

Even if you double the distance (40ft) you're still looking at roughly two seconds.

[OpenD]

The Austin Chronicle weighed in on the aftermath of the incident today, and it's emerging that Michael Paxton might not be such a straight up dude and reliable witness as he portrays himself to be...

The Cisco Story: More Than Meets the Social Media Eye - News - The Austin Chronicle

[TexasHorseLady]

Thus the reason that I didn't depend at all on either "he said" and tried very hard (not clicking on such links, for example), but on the video.

WAY too easy to let prejudice against one party or the other (or against dogs because you were once bit by one, say) based on unrelated things sway one's viewpoint. Which might be one reason, among many, those video recorders are on the police cars in the first place, come to think of it.

[deltaelise]

The officer who shot and murdered Cisco the dog should no longer be allowed to work there.
It's plain and simple.
He was wrong.
It doesn't matter about the past of anyone or anything this was a whole different situation, he was wrong and lied about it.
He used deadly force from the very beginning against this man and his dog.
What happened was the only outcome that could have occured due to the officer's actions.
He then proceeded to look for the real suspects without using deadly force.
The man was playing with his dog on a Saturday afternoon in his backyard and went to his truck a few feet away to get something.
The dog was chewing on a chew toy and heard a loud voice screaming at his owner and did what any dog would do, come running barking.
Had the officer been trained properly, he would have done it all different and this would not have happened.
It was an invasion of this man's life and within a few seconds, his best friend was gone.
Anyone would feel the same if it happened to them.

[1mintjulep]

Is the cop going to pay for a new dog? That's all I would care about at this point (and in fact, I'd be demanding it). I don't give a damn about apologies. Talk is cheap.

[CarnivalGal]

Originally Posted by 1mintjulep

Is the cop going to pay for a new dog? That's all I would care about at this point (and in fact, I'd be demanding it). I don't give a damn about apologies. Talk is cheap.

Honestly, I hope Mr. Paxton doesn't get a new dog. He has a history of being an irresponsible dog owner. Furthermore, there is a very real chance that he may be going to jail soon on unrelated charges. And it's kind of hard to care for a dog when your locked-up. I'd prefer to see a donation be made to a local animal shelter than to give this guy another dog.

[1mintjulep]

Well, I'm sorry, but I will almost never side with an authority figure in a case like this. They are untrustworthy until they prove to me otherwise.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by 1mintjulep

Well, I'm sorry, but I will almost never side with an authority figure in a case like this. They are untrustworthy until they prove to me otherwise.

Yeah, and they will still rescue your butt from trouble if you need it. That's the often thankless job our police do for us.

[love roses]

I agree with openD. I know a few cops personally and although they like their jobs, they don't like that people don't like them and wish harm to them every day. There are some parts of town that they can't believe they get calls to because once they get there, people don't end up wanting them there and intentionally mislead them, but they still have to go. I can guarantee that if I'm out on a walk and a dog starts running at me with teeth bared, I'm not gonna sit there till it's hanging from my throat thinking, "hmmmm...should I say nice doggy, stop." Or "I wonder if I should...?" I am more likely to freak out and use whatever I am carrying to hit the dog as it makes a jump for me. I may possibly yell at it first but after that all bets are off.