Sharp as a Marble - If you have a dog, I've made a handy chart for you

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If you have a dog, I've made a handy chart for you

Leading Causes of Canine Fatalities

Do they teach this technique in Police Academy these days?

posted @ 9/29/2010 9:02:48 AM

Incoming Links

SayUncle » Canine fatalities on 9/30/2010 9:48:17 AM

I don’t think you understand – these people killed my dog. « Geek Warrior on 9/30/2010 5:16:42 PM

Comments

Stacy says:

on 9/29/2010 9:28:51 AM

So, are we putting complete pussies with badges on the street these days or is there far more to this story than is reported?

Robb Allen says:

on 9/29/2010 9:30:22 AM

Dunno, but the sheer number of "Cop shoots family dog" stories have me seriously considering some doggy-Kevlar.

Lissa says:

on 9/29/2010 9:44:34 AM

Perhaps one of these costumes?

Joe Huffman says:

on 9/29/2010 11:20:23 AM

After the jury exonerated Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris they told the press they wanted the option to tell the Feds to compensate the Weaver Family for shooting the family dog but it wasn't available in the options the judge gave them.

The way I look at it is that anyone that shoots our dog while on my property just demonstrated they are intent on defeating my security system and are willing to use deadly force to do so. They therefore just became a target on a known distance range and will be treated as such. As near as I can tell this is pretty much the attitude of juries in Idaho too.

alan says:

on 9/29/2010 12:17:01 PM

I wonder if the Bradys are adding that to their gun death count?

Weer'd Beard says:

on 9/29/2010 12:53:11 PM

Lissa only I've read of small dogs getting shot almost as often as large breeds. And for the same cop that shoots a black lab wagging his tail, or a dog tied to a parked car, a standard poodle is pretty scary.

On a more serious note, I wonder if some of this has to do with the militarization of our Police?

Just like the odd mall cop wants to make arrests and do other peace office duties, I wonder if we're adding a little too much suggestion that our peace officer force is actually a military unit.

-Just about every cop car has an AR or an M-16 in it (I'm not against this, but it adds to my theory)
-Even the smallest of towns now has a SWAT team
-Not only do they have SWAT teams but they USE THEM
-Gone are the "Boys in Blue" uniform, and all is replaced with matte-black
-I regularly see in Boston non-SWAT officers in fatigues rather than the shirt-and-tie uniform.
-The TVs are loaded with Cop shows, and damn near every episode somebody gets shot.

Could it be our police are starting to feel entitled to shoot something?

Eseell says:

on 9/29/2010 1:20:30 PM

[...]Barlow was arrested and charged with multiple crimes, including insulting an officer.
Insulting a police officer is a crime? WTF?

Unix-Jedi says:

on 9/29/2010 3:09:06 PM

I wonder if some of this has to do with the militarization of our Police?

Weerd:

Considering the police have far less restrictive ROE, far less accountability, and near-immunity for their actions, I'd say that comparing them to the military isn't fair.

Dann in Ohio says:

on 9/29/2010 3:20:43 PM

As a dog owner, this subject has really been bothering me lately, especially the cops who shoot dogs that are inside kennels, crates or fenced yards. The cops will say the dog was agitated and might have gotten loose or jumped the fence.

We had a situation last year in our area where police - responding to a home burglar alarm - entered the home to check for burglars and shot the family dog - the dog was barking prior to their entering the home. They could have waited - home only had two doors - two cops on corners can cover all four sides of a small ranch home for potential burglars - turned out to be a false alarm.

Bubblehead Les says:

on 9/30/2010 1:52:00 AM

Weer'd s probably right. Remember the scene in "Letters from Iwo Jima" when the Japanese Cop shot the family dog just because he could? WAAAY too many cops today have an attitude that they're special. And yes, I have friends that are cops,or were cops, and yes, they have a tough job to do. But too many forget that they are CIVILIANS, and no one put a gun to their heads and told them to take the job. Shooting a chained up dog is just animal cruelty. If they can't handle a dog, that's why there's a DOG WARDEN. Let the WARDEN make the call. One final thing: Ever heard of a Taser?

Stuart the Viking says:

on 9/30/2010 8:16:34 AM

I'm not sure I understand the logic behind shooting the dog. If I were a cop, I would have to be in some pretty serious danger before I would cap an animal. It's not because I'm in love with their fuzzy lil faces, because I'm not really a pet person. It's because every bullet has a final destination, and often, that final resting place is somewhere on the other side of the thing the sights were on when you pull the trigger. More bullets flying, means more chances that one of those bullets ends up somewhere nobody wanted it to go. All for the sake of making bowzer quit barking? That's some real disregard for public safety right there.

s

aczarnowski says:

on 9/30/2010 9:37:52 AM

The logical side of my brain says this is an uptick in the reporting and not a sizable increase in the risk to dogs from cops.

The emotional side of my brain wants anybody that kills a pet in cold blood to get the same treatment. Slowly. In public.

Lance R. Peak says:

on 9/30/2010 9:57:52 AM

If someone shoots a police dog it is considered shooting an officer and prosecuted accordingly.

I'm waiting for someone to use the "they shot our dog which is considered part of our family so we returned fire as we were in fear of our lives" tactic, both on the officers and in court.

Knitebane says:

on 9/30/2010 11:19:30 AM

My official default position on the issue is this:

Dogs are part of my security system. If any person, including a badged civilian, intentionally takes out my dog, I'm going to assume that I'm the next target of their wanton violence and shoot to stop the threat.

Robert says:

on 9/30/2010 2:26:24 PM

I absolutely think this is LEOs "making their bones". I've heard them talk about it. If you haven't got a legitimate shooting on your record and have fired your gun in the line of duty you aren't REALLY a policeman.

Remember all the controversy about who fired first at the Davidian Compound? The Feds hid evidence and suppressed testimony to lay the first shots at the feet of the Davidians. That ignored the BATFE admitting that the sub-machine gunned the Davidian dog pack in the first moments after they pulled up.

trackerk says:

on 9/30/2010 5:10:47 PM

"I don't think you understand - these people killed my dog. " -- Bob Lee Swagger

Papa Whisky says:

on 9/30/2010 6:05:09 PM

Is your graph based on real numbers? Did I miss that?

Robb Allen says:

on 9/30/2010 6:34:16 PM

Papa Whiskey - The numbers were pulled from a place where the light from the star we call Sol never enters.

Weer'd Beard says:

on 10/1/2010 10:16:07 AM

"I don't think you understand - these people killed my dog. " -- Bob Lee Swagger

Good quote!