Rottweiler shot by police officer

[LavenderRott]

Found this little gem and thought I would share. I love the officer's excuse for shooting the dog. I never heard of a burglar bringing his dog with him!

story

[papa bear's mom]

Poor Jack :( I am glad he will be okay. See, I think just b/c people see a Rottweiler, they immediately think he is aggressive. If that was a Lab, I would be willing to bet the cop would not have shot him. I am just glad the dog didn't die. I would be ticked if I was the owner as well and push for the department to pay his vet bill. Idiots!

[poohbearsmom]

Unfortunate incident.

However, let's not let our emotions get in the way of what an Officer of the Law goes through during a routine day.

Even *IF* the Officer was aware that a dog resided on premise... there is NO way you can tell me the owner of this dog can guarantee his dog would show no territorial behavior towards the Officer entering his yard, or behave aggressively if pressed.... Any large dog is a potentially dangerous dog.

I disagree that if the dog had been a lab, the Officer would not have shot him.

This is another very good reason not to leave a dog in your backyard unattended.

While I agree that the Officer's offering that he was not sure if the dog belonged to the homeowner, or the burglar is a very silly thing to say, one also needs to realize that a charging dog may or may not bark or growl a warning...and an Officer has every right to protect himself in the event that a dog is coming at him.

All this aside, I think that Police Departments should train their Officers in regards to dogs, and dog behavior, as well as teaching them skills which might give them a little more time to make a better assessment of the dog's true intentions, before firing off 2 or 3 rounds into the animal... Budgets are tight, though, so this will probably never happen, at least on a large scale.

[Stubby]

Gotta agree with poohbearsmom.. The guy had to make his decision in a split second. It's to hard to lay complete blame on the cop when we weren't there to see how it realy unfolded.

I'm glad the dog will be ok, and I think that as a gesture of goodwill, the police or town should pick up the vet tab.

[Sansano]

I will chime in with 'another reason not to leave a dog unattended' crowd. This whole incident does not occur if the dog is secure. My dogs would have done the exact same thing(run at full boar to the cop). His comments about the dog being a burglars dog are ludicrous and I am sure he will realize that once he reads it in print.

I also wonder if maybe the officer shouldn't go into a backyard if he sees a dog is in there? I mean, no one was at home. The officer was protecting propery if anything. Maybe they should not go into situation where they have to put themselves in danger from a dog when they are only protecting someones property and NOT actual people in danger. JMO.

[HerculesMomma]

I can't say I blame the officer for his actions. I too would be a bit intimidated if a 110 pound dog was running towards me but then again, I don't weigh much more than that myself. However, by the officers remarks I think it's pretty clear he panicked - how could he assume a burglar would bring his dog with him on a robbery????

But I tend to agree with Pooh Bears Mom on this one too - I don't think if it was 110 pound lab running at him he would have reacted the same. I don't think I would have believed peoples bias towards Rotts if I haven't been experiencing it myself. So far I've experienced this in petsmart, OB classes and simply out walking my dog and some of the comments are just plain rude to be frank.

Hopefully this won't change poor Jacks disposition any and what a loving family he has that could pay for his $700 bucks so he can get better. In the end, it would be the right thing to do for the department to pay for the vet bills if the neighbor does testify that they warned the officer both on the phone and in person before the officer entered the property.

[brianbat420]

If you notice there is a comment section at the bottom of that article so I used it and here is what I wrote:

Plane and simple. Why doesnt he just say that he saw a Rottweiler and that is what made him shoot. We all know that if he was a poodle or any other dog besides a Rottweiler or a Pit-bull then he wouldnt have felt that he needed to shoot.

[K9-man]

Originally Posted by poohbearsmom

an Officer has every right to protect himself in the event that a dog is coming at him.

So do I. So does the mail carrier. So does the meter reader. So does the UPS guy. But we all don't have the liberty to carry a gun – not that shooting a dog would be *my* first reaction.

I bet on an average day the mail carrier, UPS person and the meter reader encounter aggressive or dogs that appear aggressive far more frequently than the average cop yet they carry on with their work without shooting a one. They can do it, why can’t some of these police officers?

There’s a product called Halt. It’s a dog repellent for personal protection from dog attacks. It’s clipped on the belt of every mail carrier and meter reader that I see. I also see it on most of the UPS and Fed Express guys I see. Why not on the cop’s belt? I'm pretty sure they all carry mace, no? Why not use that instead of the gun right away?

The fact is there are far too many cops that are trigger-happy when it comes to dog encounters. :(

[Burnsway]

Originally Posted by K9-man

So do I. So does the mail carrier. So does the meter reader. So does the UPS guy.

I'm pretty sure they all carry mace, no? Why not use that instead of the gun right away?

The fact is there are far too many cops that are trigger-happy when it comes to dog encounters. :(

True, but look at the other side. The UPS man, Mail Carrier and meter readers are not usually called onto that spot with the fact there may be immediate danger. They know they may have time to dodge the dog, befriend him or even throw a treat.

A cop called out on a call of domestic violence, drug deals, or robbery does not have the time to think about the dog when someone including themselves may be in danger. I agree in some situations these cops are acting too fast but I don't like the trend I'm seeing lately that they are all trigger happy. We(including myself) seem lately to be stereo typing them! The cops not the dogs........:D

Walk a mile in their shoes, no just a block would do....... :D It is not a pretty picture out there and I'm sorry to say but if I was a cop the dogs safety would not be the first on my list in these situations...... :(

[MontanaRott]

Originally Posted by K9-man

So do I. So does the mail carrier. So does the meter reader. So does the UPS guy. But we all don't have the liberty to carry a gun – not that shooting a dog would be *my* first reaction.

I bet on an average day the mail carrier, UPS person and the meter reader encounter aggressive or dogs that appear aggressive far more frequently than the average cop yet they carry on with their work without shooting a one. They can do it, why can’t some of these police officers?

There’s a product called Halt. It’s a dog repellent for personal protection from dog attacks. It’s clipped on the belt of every mail carrier and meter reader that I see. I also see it on most of the UPS and Fed Express guys I see. Why not on the cop’s belt? I'm pretty sure they all carry mace, no? Why not use that instead of the gun right away?

The fact is there are far too many cops that are trigger-happy when it comes to dog encounters. :(

I think you make an excellent point, cops carry MACE to disable suspects, instead of hitting them with a night stick or shooting them, why then not the same consideration for someones pet? I think most cops would use the mace then there are those that reach for the gun instead.

[LavenderRott]

I didn't mean to open a big can of worms. I too, think that our police officers have the right to defend themselves.

I do, however, think that this officer should have thought before he shot. Most families have dogs, and if their house is getting broken into, they are probably aggitated. I know that I would be quite upset if someone broke into my house and when the police showed up, they shot my dog without so much as a by-your-leave.

There is another thread right now about a GSD that attacked an animal control officer. That dog wasn't shot.

I hate to assume things, but one must wonder, had this been a standard poodle, would the officer responded the same way?

[brianbat420]

Thoes are my thoughts exactly if you look at my above post that is what I had written to the website. I just think that it was a "Breed" thing

[Luvs]

It is so easy to say what should have been done after the fact. Even if the officer had been told that the dog was friendly, if the dog was charging him he had every right to protect himself. Who is to say that the dog was not ready to defend his territory against the officer who was obviously a stranger. Just because a dog is friendly does not mean that they will welcome all strangers into their yard or house. It is so easy to say that "my dog is friendly and would NEVER hurt anyone" but if they have never been placed in that situation how can you really say for sure?

I personally don't think that it was ONLY because he was a Rottweiler. Any large breed or medium breed for that matter can cause serious harm. I feel that if the officer felt threatened then he had every right to protect himself. Now, I would definately have a MAJOR problem with an officer shooting a toy breed who really would pose very little threat. Even tho toy breeds can bite, really how much damage can they do? A swift kick can usually take care of those little ankle biters ;)

I guess I am somewhat prejudiced when it comes to situations like this. I hear all the time about dogs going after our officers. I have only heard of a couple officers in our area shooting someones dog. The few I have heard of were totally justified. They repeatedly told the owner of the dog to restrain their dog. The stupid owner refused and the dog ultimately paid with its life :( In all the cases since I have been dispatching the owner was present. I do know of several officers, my husband included who have pepper sprayed dogs instead of shooting them. Unfortunately tho pepper spray does not always work and in those instances the officer may have to shoot the dog if it comes down to it. Fortunately here, those cases are very infrequent. I always make sure when I am sending an officer or an ambulance to a residence to ask if the people have dogs and advise them to put the dogs up (when possible). There are calls tho where because of an escalating situation I am not able to even get that far.

I realize that not every dog shot by an officer is justified. I am sure that there are some who are trigger happy. That is why EVERY shooting is investigated. The officer is NOT always right.

I worry if for some reason I ever need an officer or ambulance to come to my residence and I am not able to put my dogs up what they would do. Both Akasha and Keil are very friendly but there is no way I could guarantee that they would let strangers in my house. Luckily if I need a trooper most of them know Akasha and Keil (who love everyone in a trooper uniform) so that would hopefully not be a problem. ;) :D

[Judi W]

It's a breed thing. We hear that often. "if it had not been a Rottweiler". Yes, it is true that Labs bite as do many others. The difference is however, that a Rottweiler is not a Lab. The working guard breeds have different drives to protect and that cannot and should not be ignored. They are usually active in their guarding. It is not a one way street. Acquiring a breed with a working guarding heritage means that the responsibilities, danger and liabilities go along with it.

[Burnsway]

So True JudiW!

I have to admit and the forum can throw darts if they want but I'm totally prejudice(If thats what you want to call it) against Rottweilers, Pits, Shepherds and a few others when I come across them, unsupervised or loose. I react totally different around these breeds when out on a walk then I would a growling snippy poodle. Add into that equation of being a cop on a drug bust or other serious situation and a 100 pounds of Rottweiler pearly whites are coming at me I'm not going to stop and say hey poochie are you bluffing........

But to add to this, those same breeds are the exact breeds I love in my care........:D If my neighbor does not start containing his Pit he is going to loose him to my back yard.......:D :D :D Just kidding........