Body Cam Shows Cop Walk into Backyard and Shoot and Kill a Family’s Small Dog

[Garion_55]

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/body-cam-shows-cop-walk-backyard-shoot-kill-familys-small-dog/

this is why more and more people hate the cops. why not throw the dog a chew bone instead of a couple bullets or better yet turn your fat ass around and get out of the backyard.

[CrispyQ]

1. The only thought that comes to mind is,

"Revenge is a dish best served cold."

[msongs]

2. it's a tossup. if you've ever been attacked and bitten your opinion might be different. article does

not say why the cop was wandering around in the backyard in the first place

[Garion_55]

5. maybe but i do pest control for a living

hit about 20 houses a day. have run into multiple dogs running around their properties.

never been bit or attacked and never had to shoot one. always carry treats with me just in case. ready to run and smack them with my chemical sprayer and jump in the back of my truck if it comes to it.

just part of the job

[bvar22]

19. I've always thought I was good with dogs,

but I recently had the chance to ride with the Electric Meter Reader in our area which is very rural
and PLENTY of big dogs that run free, and are not used to seeing strangers pull into THEIR yard.

My friend (the meter reader) was one of the best at DE-escalating an angry or defensive dog I have ever seen.
Now all the dogs love him, and the rather reclusive people who live way back in the woods trust their dog's opinion. He has made friends with hermits who won't talk to anyone else.
Many people judge you by how you treat their dogs.

Being "good" to their dogs has won him approval and recommendations.
I keep telling him that one day he will meet a "bad" dog and get in trouble.
He just laughs, and pets the next untethered Pit Bull at the next house.

[uhnope]

6. looks like that dog was charging full speed for an attack. And yes, "article" has no context

[Heather MC]

21. Most Family dogs aren't Vicious, I am sure if the Officer had yelled Heel the dog would have stopped

running towards him.

Does this lady look like she would own a dangerous dog?

[jtuck004]

23. Except for ignorant fucks, the rest of us rely on training and not being a jack-booted nazi thug.

In Canada they teach people how to avoid dog bites, in grade school, and they have classes for the police and postal workers, others.

It Works. They don't use guns, like fat lazy, stupid Americans.

Got better health care too, just in case.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

27. I've waded into dog fights a number of times to separate dogs

and managed to avoid getting any serious damage beyond picking up a few scars here and there. I've never even considered using deadly force on a dog.

[haikugal]

3. We need to get on this, they're totally out of control!

[lame54]

4. Cops are afraid of everything

[Heather MC]

22. I bet he wet himself, before he pulled the trigger

[Shrike47]

7. Give a cop a gun, it becomes the default solution to all problems.

[Ed Suspicious]

52. Hammer wielders see nails everywhere.

[iamthebandfanman]

8. this happens a lot

especially in rural areas.
I know people who have had their dogs shot by county sheriffs before. they didn't say a word to the owner, just walked into the yard and shot their pet. the gunshot was their warning/notice.
ive seriously heard of them doing it over complaints that 'the dog is loud and ACTS aggressive (but no proof of such)'.. they just take the complaint and go do it. animals aren't worthy of fact checking, apparently.. especially when u have an officer who wants to use his weapon because he/she never gets too.

[raging moderate]

9. Been attacked and bitten! Small, old woman! STILL condemn this shooting!

In fact, last summer, while walking to many houses with Democratic literature, my husband and I approached a house only to have the teabagger man swear at us and sic his dogs on us! However, WE know how to talk to dogs (although we don't have any of our own). Perhaps this officer needs to hire a small, old woman to accompany him on his rounds to protect him from the common hazards found in residential neighborhoods. Or maybe find a different job.

[uppityperson]

10. 26 lb dog. My dog would come out barking ferociously as that is her job. False burglary

report was why they said he was there, but wtf. This is wrong.

[Laser102]

25. My dogs too! I have a beware of dogs sign posted at all gates and entrances.

Still, we have had people reach inside the gate and undo the latches. Our local police said if they still want to come in to let the dogs bite them. We will not be held responsible.

[valerief]

11. Too bad cops aren't as brave as postal carriers. You know, the people the GOP

are always denigrating and our GOP Congress wants to put out of business.

[blackspade]

49. No shit.

[Duppers]

50. Indeed!

Brilliantly put.

Cowardly, machismo-driven assholes is what they are.

[world wide wally]

12. Fucking coward

Warning the lady not to pet the poor dog because is "may be…."
Dumbfuck

[Old Crow]

13. When will this stop?

I am disgusted by the way American police are trained to use deadly force to address EVERY instance of even the slightest amount of risk.

Is there a 0.004% chance that the toy gun a child is holding is actually a real gun? Is there a 0.036% chance that the black man approaching the cruiser is going to attempt to grab the officer's weapon? Is there a 0.6% chance that you cannot avoid this charging dog by standing on one of the patio chairs until the owner can come get him?

Response: SHOOT TO KILL IMMEDIATELY.

Suburban backyards are not war zones. Police officers are not soldiers deep in hostile territory, there to kill the enemy.

[FuzzyRabbit]

35. Sadly, the police view themselves as an occupying army.

"Suburban backyards are not war zones. Police officers are not soldiers deep in hostile territory, there to kill the enemy."

This is exactly how most police view themselves: US citizens are the enemy, the police are there to punish the enemy.

[StoneCarver]

14. Everything looked correct to me -sorry.

The cop was checking out a tripped alarm he had to be ready for anything! The dog was charging and ready to attack. The cop definitely felt bad about it. I would too. I don't see any way to prevent it. That cop had a fraction of a second to make a decision. That was NOT a small dog as the title said. It was a medium sized dog -50 lbs. Anyone dis'n this cop should do a ride along sometime. Unfortunately we don't live in Mayberry anymore. I wish we did.
Stonecarver

[Old Crow]

15. Well, I applaud you for not getting caught up in group-think.

You make some good points. Thinking it over, I'm now on the fence regarding the police officer's actions. The problem is that I'm seeing this video in the context of the epidemic of police overreactions nationwide, which seem to be the result of a shoot-first, zero-risk-tolerance policy.

[d_r]

18. it was a 26 pound dog

It looks small to me, but such things are relative of course. Our dog right now is 37 pounds and I think she is a small dog.
That neighborhood is a little more upscale than anything I ever saw on the Andy Griffith show, and the officer's demeanor changes quite a bit when he learns the lady is a judge's wife.

Honestly, I thought that was a pretty cowardly reaction, but I'm not afraid of dogs and I'm not very high strung so I understand people can react differently. But that was a dog just wanting to bark.

[A Simple Game]

45. If everything was correct explain to me why the cop when asked why he didn't knock

on the front door explained he didn't know if an intruder was in the house right after he had no problem knocking on a back window? Not to mention 2 shots kind of lets everyone know you are there.

[Duppers]

53. Exactly. nt

[RichVRichV]

54. If the dog tripped the alarm then I'd call it a false alarm.

And I'm pretty sure the dogs of today are no more out to get us than the dogs of Mayberry days. You can't place the change in human society on animals.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

16. This is why the folks who deliver the mail have mace....

Oh wait,....cops have that too.

Barney Fife here probably doesn't even know where it is on his Sam Browne.

[Helen Borg]

17. Other then the shooting...

They seem pretty compassionate.

[NBachers]

20. I can't understand why he didn't shoot the lady, too.

[Politicalboi]

29. I can't watch a dog get shot and I love your response

Sad but true these days.

[suzanner]

24. I'm thinking I need to put signs on all windows, fences, doors:

Police: Pet dog here; do not shoot my dog- she may bark or appear frightening to you (she's a 12 pound Pomeranian)
If the officer here has a dog, he should've known what to do or not do. The charge doesn't always mean attack. What a do-fuss.

[jtuck004]

26. Keep making enemies. Someone will wish you hadn't. n/t

[Android3.14]

28. Very sad, but I don't see anything negligent here

The dog sure appeared to be attacking the cop, and the officer's behavior afterwards was calm and sympathetic.

The suggestion to throw a chew bone to distract the dog would be as effective as throwing a sugar cube on a horse track in the middle of a race.

I feel sad for all those involved.

[Garion_55]

30. actually the dog never touched the cop. never got the chance

he was shot for running up to the cop nothing else.

if a cop cant handle a running 25 lb dog perhaps he is in the wrong profession.

regardless the policy and the law should be that you cannot shoot and kill a dog until after the dog has made some kind of physical contact. show me the bite, then its all good. no bite no justification.

[Android3.14]

34. Unfortunately, that is a dangerous way to deal with the threat of injury

I've been around dogs all my life. When you are in someone else's territory and a strange dog is charging towards you, only a fool stands there and waits to be bitten, just to be sure.

[PADemD]

38. He could have used a taser.

[Android3.14]

42. He could have

But he didn't.

Hindsight is 20/20. He could have run, could have used pepper spray, could have kicked the animal away, could have thrown something at the dog, and etc. He shot the dog.

What he did was respond to the threat, and then he dealt professionally with the aftermath. I saw no evidence of depravity, incompetence, adrenaline addiction, racial profiling, or anything else. The cop shot a dog that was charging towards him.

The problem I have is that the OP is using the incident to instigate outrage at cops in general.

I'd rather we stayed focused on the real problems of racial profiling, abuse of authority, sociopaths working as cops, and outright lying to cover their asses.

[gwheezie]

31. No reason to shoot the dog

This can't be the 1st little dog that charged at him, he hasn't figured out how to handle this yet? Squirt the dog with pepper spray for heaven's sake.

[Live and Learn]

32. I am not even going to watch that.

There is no excuse for killing a family pet that is simply trying to defend its owners property.

[Faryn Balyncd]

33. Why do meter readers & mailmen NEVER have the need to carry guns,yet cops seem to have "no other

....option" but to kill dogs on a regular basis?

[ejbr]

36. Unfuckingbelievable n/t

[damnedifIknow]

37. Keep this wuss out of dog parks

Dogs charge all the time barking then usually stop and just bark. This dog was in it's own backyard and had every right to react.

[Ahpook]

39. That is fucked up

I had a cop threaten to shoot my Labrador if I didn't call him back.

They know a TRUE threat when presented to them. My Lab never acted like that unless an asshole was in his territory.

[Ino]

40. This pig was convicted of vehicular homicide before...

http://cjonline.com/news/2015-08-03/topeka-police-officer-fatally-shoots-retired-judges-dog-his-backyard

Authorities said Cruse was driving his Topeka police patrol car en route to what turned out to be a false burglar alarm at a North Topeka business in April 2002 when he ran a stop sign and struck a vehicle driven by 61-year-old Leonard “Butch” Porter.

Cruse pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year in jail for vehicular homicide, with most of that sentence being suspended. He was initially fired from the Topeka Police Department before an arbitrator ordered his reinstatement to that department in 2003, Topeka Capital-Journal archives show.

Yay cops!

[EEO]

41. Wow. That is a really scary dog.

What a stupid asshole.

[The Jungle 1]

43. So he feared for his life from that little dog.

What stupid a vinegar bag.

[mpgalloway]

44. Fire this coward immediately!

This guy has no business "protecting & serving".
If he can't handle a family pet he should be in another line of work!

This is what happens when the police hire bottom feeders because they are
afraid to hire someone who might be smarter than them.

How sad little men they have become with guns for brains!

[Dawson Leery]

46. Police are not heros and never will be.

When one puts their safety above all else, they are not a hero.

[Jeb Bartlet]

47. Fucking pig

[blackspade]

48. Cops are a sickness.

What a heartless prick.

At one point I thought he was going to say he was sorry....instead he tells her he takes alarms seriously.

[Quixote1818]

51. I can promis you I would not have shot unless the dog was already biting me

If I really felt it could do something more than inflict a few puncture wounds I would shoot but until it reached that point there is no way I would shoot it. Frankly I would not have been scared of being bitten by a dog that size. I would have kicked it back a couple of feet first. Too many cops go to their gun too quick and its tragic!

[zebonaut]

55. He could have shot an effing Bean Bag at the dog.

[joanbarnes]

56. Sending love and comfort to the grieving dog owner who acted with such restraint and class

Nothing can describe my contempt for the murdorous cop.