The so-called "dangerous" breeds of dogs aren't the only ones that are being killed in encounters with police either.
Essentially, police can shoot your dog for any reason or no reason at all. What's more, the general consensus from the courts thus far has been to absolve police from charges of wrongdoing.
Outraged yet?
Not to worry. I'm just getting warmed up.
Spike, a 70-pound pit bull, was shot by NYPD police when they encountered him in the hallway of an apartment building in the Bronx. Surveillance footage shows the dog, tail wagging, right before an officer shot him in the head at pointblank range.
Arzy, a 14-month-old Newfoundland, Labrador and golden retriever mix, was shot between the eyes by a Louisiana police officer. The dog had been secured on a four-foot leash at the time he was shot. An independent witness testified that the dog never gave the officer any provocation to shoot him.
Seven, a St. Bernard, was shot repeatedly by Connecticut police in the presence of the dog's 12-year-old owner. Police, investigating an erroneous tip, had entered the property--without a warrant--where the dog and her owner had been playing in the backyard, causing the dog to give chase.
Dutchess, a 2-year-old rescue dog, was shot three times in the head by Florida police as she ran out her front door. The officer had been approaching the house to inform the residents that their car door was open when the dog bounded out to greet him.
Yanna, a 10-year-old boxer, was shot three times by Georgia police after they mistakenly entered the wrong home and opened fire, killing the dog, shooting the homeowner in the leg and wounding an investigating officer.
Payton, a 7-year-old black Labrador retriever, and 4-year-old Chase, also a black Lab, were shot and killed after a SWAT team mistakenly raided the mayor's home while searching for drugs. Police shot Payton four times. Chase was shot twice, once from behind as he ran away. Mayor Cheye Calvo was handcuffed and interrogated for hours--wearing only underwear and socks--surrounded by the dogs' carcasses and pools of the dogs' blood.
In another instance, a Missouri SWAT team raided a family home, killing a 4-year-old pit bull Kiya. Believe it or not, this time the SWAT raid wasn't in pursuit of drugs, mistaken or otherwise, but was intended "to check if [the] home had electricity and natural gas service."
These are not isolated instances. We're dealing with an outright epidemic.
Clearly, our four-legged friends are suffering at the hands of a police state in which the police have all the rights and the citizenry (and their "civilian" dogs) have little to none.
As always, we have to dig down deep to understand why is this happening.
Are family dogs really such a menace to police? Are law enforcement agents really so fearful for their safety--and so badly trained--that they have no recourse when they encounter a dog than to shoot? Finally, are police shootings of dogs really any different than police shootings of unarmed citizens?
First off, dogs are no greater menace to police than they are to anyone else. After all, as the Washington Post points out, while "postal workers regularly encounter both vicious and gregarious dogs on their daily rounds" letter carriers don't kill dogs, even though they are bitten by the thousands every year. Instead, the Postal Service offers its employees training on how to avoid bites."
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