Off-Duty Cop Kills Dog in Tony Baloney's NYC Neighborhood

[SoDesuKa]

Following the example of his Westerleigh neighbor Anthony Bologna, an off-duty cop fired first and asked questions later when a big dog bounded out of a car and attacked his pug.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- An off-duty Port Authority police officer shot and killed his neighbor’s Doberman in Westerleigh last night, firing a single bullet at the dog as it tangled with his own smaller pooch.

The confrontation unfolded at about 9 p.m. last night, at the intersection of Leonard and Muller avenues. The officer, whose identity has not been released as of early this morning, was walking his pug when the Mazzola family, who live at that corner, returned home from a trip to the Catskill Mountains, 23-year-old Joe Mazzola said.

They parked and let 3-year-old Doberman, Boo Boo, out of the car without his leash, but before they could get him into their house, he bounded towards the pug, Mazzola said. “They started scrapping a little,” said Mazzola. “They were doing what dogs do, they were growling.”

He tried to dive in and separate them, but the officer pulls out his gun, “shoots from the hip.” “I was diving in, he almost shoots me, this guy,” Mazzola said. “In the heart, he shoots my dog in the heart.”

http://www.silive.com/northshore/index.ssf/2011/11/staten_island_doggy_scrap_take.html


. . . . . . . . . Pug . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Boo Boo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Glock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[Lionessa]

1. As the owner of many very large shepherd mixes over the decades,

we have a responsibility to contain our dogs and/or assure their gentleness. Even my last large dog, gentle as could be, might have been shot in the same situation just because he was a bound first, be gentle second kind of thing. It sounds like the officer waited till growls were heard, and after that a free for all can occur in a blink.

I think he shouldn't be judged harshly here. I think the doberman's owners were terribly irresponsible and effectively the primary cause of their own dog's death.

[Angry Dragon]

2. ..............

:popcorn:

[1620rock]

5. My asshole neighbor harbors a vicious doberman....

he trains it to be that way. If that 'thing' ever jumps the fence and attacks my cat it's going to die.

[EFerrari]

3. It's a lot easier to "assure" people your dog is gentle if you are

holding the dog on a leash at the time.

[MadHound]

4. As an owner of many dogs, large and small, I agree with you to a point

However I also recognize that even the best dog owners can make mistakes once in awhile, and let their dog, large or small, get away from them. That is no reason to shoot the dog, nor is two doggies doing fairly normal doggy stuff anymore of a reason to shoot a dog. Dogs interact in a number of ways, and you can't expect them to always being butt sniffing, slobbery heaven. Yet even such overtly hostile interactions turn out for the good in the vast majority of cases.

Not to mention that the cop nearly killed a human with his recklessness. Most folks assume that it is safe to go amount normal human life, like breaking up a hostile canine situation, without the danger of gun play.

[SoDesuKa]

6. NYC Cops Are Used to Getting Their Way

Cops in New York have a sense of entitlement, and the Port Authority cops are among the most arrogant. The World Trade Center was a Port Authority building, and today's P.A. cops automatically assume there's something anti-terrorist about everything they do. The Mazzola's Doberman did a terrorist act in attacking the PA cop's pug.

What makes this story even more interesting is that the Westerleigh community lines up 110% behind their guy, Tony Balogna. The women he pepper-sprayed had it coming to them. If they were obeying the law, the story goes, they wouldn't have gotten sprayed.

Now Boo Boo gets it. Big, stupid Boo Boo. Spirited, harmless . . . and now, dead.



Big stupid Boo Boo jumped out of the car.

[Dawson Leery]

7. +1

[flvegan]

8. Spoken by someone that probably doesn't speak "dog"

"Growls" as you hear them, may not be so in your inferred intent.

"Scrapping a little"...if that Doberman intended to kill that dog he/she would have done so in less than a few seconds. The police, dog "owners" and the police should better learn how to listen and understand dog behavior.

[SoDesuKa]

9. Aggressive. Territorial. Disobedient.

BooBoo the Doberman had no way of knowing that the pug belonged to a Port Authority cop, which are known to be aggressive, territorial and not especially intelligent. That's actually a signal between people, not between dogs. Still, it seems possible to train a dog to be alert to the presence of PA cops. Maybe some kind of aversion therapy would do it.

Yes, I hear the objections to aversion therapy. However, if the Mazzola's had an inkling that there was an armed PA officer in the area, do you think they'd have even opened their door?



Aggressive, territorial and stupid.

[Withywindle]

11. Police sometimes shoot dogs because they CAN.

There are too many stories, over years and years, of police killing harmless pets for useless reasons (drug raid on the wrong house? Pullover of a young couple doing 10 over the speed limit, who had a rambunctious Corgi puppy in the back seat? Homeowners weren't home, dog is a trained watchdog who barks, never mind that she's about 70 in dog years? It's all happened, it's all real), and I have to think that they do it for fun, just because they know they can do it and get away with it.


I'm not giving cops the benefit of the doubt in dog-shooting stories like this, sorry. Supposedly, cops are so highly-trained they can read the danger level of any situation and we shouldn't ever second-guess or judge them, right? And of course they would never ever use violent force against much much harmless beings just because they can, right?

[smokey nj]

16. Well said.

[Skittles]

10. gun nut

[ProgressiveProfessor]

15. Anti gun bigot

[Skittles]

19. that guy is a gun nut

and I am NOT anti-gun - I am anti-gun nuts

[ProgressiveProfessor]

21. He is a cop

Some are indeed gun nuts, many are anti gun rights, but few as hard core as yourself

[dballance]

12. Even as a dog owner I don't want to demonze the officer

I have a Jack Russell. A 19-lb dog. But I NEVER let him jump out of the car without a leash on and he's the sweetest thing. You CAN get out of the car and walk around to the back door and block your dog from jumping out until you attach the leash.

I agree with the person who posted that the owners are the root cause of their dog's death. They should have kept control of their dog.

[SoDesuKa]

13. 19-lb. Jack Russell

Nineteen pounds seemed big for a Jack Russell, so I searched the normal weight range. One website, the Dog Breed Info Center, says that 19 lbs. is at the high end of the range, the norm being 14-18 lbs. You'll probably agree with the site's contention that the breed is strong-willed, "The owner needs to be as strong-willed as they are, or this little guy will take over."

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/jackrussellterrier.htm

Because I live down the street from a park where people let their dogs off the leash, I've often been annoyed by displays of canine hostility. If I were walking a small dog I'd assign a different meaning to these displays - they wouldn't necessarily imply that the dog is protecting its owner. The story says that there were previous encounters between these two dogs but the larger animal had always been on the leash before. There's no reason for the cop to assume friendly intentions, esp. since there was actual growling.



Jack Russell terrier

[dballance]

14. Mine is a Mutt/Mix

My baby is a a mix of more than Jack Russell. I think there is some Beagle in there too and I've had enough Beagles to know they vary in size. He's not overweight. His body does taper behind his rib-cage like it's supposed to. I just use Jack Russell as his breed because his face looks very terrier. Mine is the short-haired variety.

I take him to the off-leash parks around here so he can run and play. It's always been a good experience and the majority of dog owners at the off-leash park really pay attention to what their pooches are doing. But it's still always nerve-racking for me. You just never know what's going to happen when two dogs who don't know each other get together. My dog has never been aggressive but I'd never say it's something that wouldn't happen.

[JanMichael]

18. We have a Russell mix...14 pounds. Scout. She has already

taken over; she even gets breakfast in bed. :) The cat is not amused.

[Liberal_in_LA]

17. horrible.

[Tom Ripley]

20. Boo Boo is dead because the cop is a premature ejaculator

[alphafemale]

22. So...keep your dog on a leash. Or at voice command.

What?
Somebody is supposed to wait for your big dog to pick up their little dog shake it and snap its spine and rip its guts out? That can happen in 2 seconds. I've seen it.

I'd have probably picked up my dog and ka-thudded your stupid unleashed, untrained fleasak in the windpipe with a hard kick.

Keep your dog on a LEASH morons....or on voice command.

This. Is. Not. Difficult.