The shocking video of the Hawthorne, CA Police Department gunning down an innocent man’s Rottweiler, who was doing nothing more than coming to his master Leon Rosby’s aid after he was being falsely detained for obstruction, was arguably the viral-video-of-day for July 2nd, 2013. It was the latest in what seems to be a disturbingly high number of Cop-on-Canine assassinations in the United States which have occurred within the last few years.
Many still remember a surreal video from New York City in the late summer of 2012, in which a small dog, barely 20-inches tall, was shot several times on a crowded street in Manhattan. The dog was merely protecting it’s owner who was lying on the street having a seizure, and by protecting I am literally talking about all bark and no bite. That did not stop two officers on the scene from drawing their weapons and unloading into the small dog without any hesitation, after the animal had approached one of the officers. The fact that those officers truly believed they faced enough “danger” to warrant such a drastic response, and that afterwards the writhing and twitching dog still might have posed enough of a threat to maintain their grandstanding defensive power stance in front of so many horrified witnesses, is really quite pathetic.
Among other examples, last November a Colorado police officer sparked outrage after he was caught on camera shooting to death an aggravated dog at a private residence, but only after it had already been RESTRAINED with a catch pole. Earlier this year in February, a police officer in Sandusky, OH was caught on his patrol car’s dashboard camera shooting a large barking dog outside a private residence. The dog was completely motionless and well over 10 feet away at the time a single round was fired. In Adams County, CO this January, police shot and killed a mans dog after they responded to the wrong address, telling the distraught owner at the scene “you need to calm down sir, you can get a new dog“. As if a heartless response like that isn’t terrible enough, this last one surely takes the cake. In 2009, a police officer who shot a family dog gave this as a reason to justify his actions, “it was barking at me“.
Just what exactly is making a growing number of police officers across the country either so high-strung or jaded that they think the only appropriate course of action, in the midst of their unpredictable work, is to prematurely end the life of a higher mammal? A higher mammal which in just about all of these recent events caught on camera were, let’s be honest, posing very little threat to anyone’s safety? I can only start to brainstorm.
Is life as an urban police officer in the gun-loving United States simply that much more dangerous than any other western nation? Enough to the point that the stress and edginess of field work can cloud good judgment? Does instinct tell them that anything with four limbs and is making sudden movements an imminent threat? Like a human being brandishing a firearm for example? After all, every United States citizen is supposed to be treated as a ‘potential terrorist’ now, and during the moment of truth there seems to be an inability for certain officers to rationally separate the two vastly different scenarios they could face, that of a human threat versus a perceived canine “threat”.
Or perhaps it is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and military machismo being transferred to an authoritative civilian job. A great deal of military veterans desire to become policemen, and military.com even reinforces the notion that ex-servicemen make great police officers. “Former military personnel hold a special place in the heart of police department recruiters across the U.S. The qualities of a great police officer are virtually identical to those of a great soldier: Both have a desire to serve their country and community and protect people and their rights.” I cannot fathom how exactly the U.S. military “protects people and their rights”, but unfortunately if a number of these dog killers are indeed veterans, they seem to be bringing their foreign battlefield mentality right into the heart of urban America. Like a soldier at a roadside checkpoint in Iraq or Afghanistan, the mantra for dealing with an out-of-control dog (in lieu of a vehicle) is more or less “if it keeps coming toward you, shoot now and ask questions later”.
And finally, what about the perceived danger of bites, and especially the risk for contracting a hideous disease like Rabies as a result? Even if one of these dogs just gives one of these officers a nip they could catch Rabies right? Enough to warrant their deadly shooting response? The risk of contracting rabies in the United States from domesticated animals is actually very, very low. In most first world countries, animal control and vaccination programs have effectively eliminated domestic dogs as reservoirs of rabies, and the United States is no exception.
OK, but the dog can still bite am I correct? Should a police officer have the ability to put down a dog if they have reasonable suspicion that just a possible dog bite of any size and capacity justifies discharging their firearm? Why not utilize some other less lethal options that are at their disposal such as a taser or pepper spray? Domesticated and trained animals in the United States rarely bite, and we should know that it is completely natural in dog behavior to bark loudly and sometimes even run up to and jump towards strangers, without ever biting or causing any kind of injury requiring medical treatment.
The extent of dog deaths at the hands of police is quite unsettling. According to an ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) review of public records, roughly half of all firearm discharges by police officers involve shooting a canine. Furthermore, it states that police rarely receive any training whatsoever that would allow them to quickly and realistically assess the level of danger posed by a dog, and that current policies only require that an officer “feel” threatened by a canine before justifying a lethal response. In other words, the threshold for an officer to have the legal right to execute a dog, and not expect any disciplinary action, is quite low.
In closing, there may not be any kind of problematic increase of these killings at all, it is just due to technological advances with smartphones and dashboard cameras allowing us to keep a closer eye on the police, and keeping a greater number of their transgressions (when do they do occur) on file as a result. Nonetheless, the people are becoming well aware of what the police are up to when a recording device is pointed in their direction, and with animal welfare held in fairly low regard in the eyes of many police officers out there, the citizens are starting to get quite disgusted with what they are seeing at greater frequency.
– See more at: http://www.ingeniouspress.com/2013/07/03/whats-with-all-the-cop-on-canine-killings/#sthash.JCa4bjy1.dpuf
Everyone should do as the gent in Penn. did last year. When the cop called his Sargent, and the homeowner heard the reply over the radio, to shoot the dog, the homeowner retrieved his shotgun and blew away the cop before he could shoot his dog. The cop had no business on his property, as he was at the wrong address. Time to take back our right to protect our property. I would probably be in defense of my dogs life, and spend the rest of my days in jail, but it would be worth it to get another vicious doughnut eater off the streets.
Do you have a link for that story? I had not heard it.
It was posted by Alexander Higgins on August 15th 2011 at 8:23pm. I visited his blog site, but saw nothing older than 2012. I save all articles of interest as Word Docs, so I have a copy if you are interested, I could email it to you.
I’d like to see that one myself.
I think that his blogs from 2011 might have been destroyed in the Sandy flooding. I could not get the links to work, but do have is saved as Word. Posted by Alexander Higgins – August 15, 2011 at 8:23 pm – Permalink – Source via Alexander Higgins Blog
These vile cretins should be shot if they tried to shoot a dog for barking. If that happened enough times, the sadistic “pigs” who would do this might think twice about shooting defenseless pets.
We can ask what drugs are they on? A high percentage of people are on SSRI drugs for treatment of stress, depression and just about anything you can name in that category. These drugs are dangerous and do make people very combative and have been known to kill and even commit suicide. I am not excusing this behavior but I have noticed the violence in the country has increased substantially in the last few years. I have done some research on this and they are giving them out like candy to our military to make them violent and more willing to kill. Why not cops. Makes perfect sense to me. They are not restricted to dogs either they are killing kids, old, mentally ill, handicapped and even women. Go to you tube and see the brutality.
Steroid abuse is rampant among cops, which they use to bulk up their muscles so they look more intimidating. It also has the side effect of making them more violent, hence the slang “roid rage”.
To answer the headline question; They (LEO) are displaying to the American Public that they can & will shoot you down just as easily & with same regard as they can a dog without suffering ANY repercussions. Instilling public fear of being shot is one of their tactics of controlling the “herd”.
Benspear-
I concur with your ideaology. I believe sometime right around 9/11/2001 a secret edict was given out by the united nations to ratchet up the leo’s ‘force-continuum” in the event a confrontation occurs with a civilian and or his family member including pets. this agenda was put into motion to instill a never ending wave of fear for
all leo’s when the confront and respond to civilian situations. this is conditioning for when the civil war breaks out here in the states and then “no excuse” will be needed for these executioners to do their wicked deeds upon the populace. and these phukkers wonder why more and more, they are being ambushed and killed in and around our nation.
These sick disgusting pigs in uniform that back this corrupt system need to get back what they are giving before its to late.These same bastards impose marshal law under the guise of shelter in place,and think nothing of tearing your car or house apart over anything they can dream up in their sick twisted minds. Then we have their swat teams that are nothing more than killers looking for a reason to kill. Armored Vehicles,body armor,drones,cameras,helicopters,illegal searches,sexual molestation ,you name it,these filthy pigs are guilty of it.Have any of them ever even bothered to read the Constitution? And then we hare about the good ones,well where the hell are they,perhaps quit the force because they could see what was really going on!
Yea really. Where the hell are the supposed “good ones”? They are non-existent these days.
The only good cop is a dead cop.
It’s amazing how animal rights groups aren’t rallying around for this guy. If I did this to my dog, there would be animal rights activists all over my house and neighborhood and the media would be all over it. But nope. Not when the police do it. Two sets of laws here. One for the elite and one for the peasants.
Here in southwest Oregon I can think of two cases where (civilian) dog shooters got the book thrown at them, and the cases were given serious coverage in the local media. One was a guy who shotgunned his girlfriend’s dog for peeing on his carpet, and I remember the bail was $50,000. The other was a guy who shot his dog through the sinus (missing the brain) and left it for dead in a ditch. Both were viewed by police, prosecutors, and public like the worst human scum. But now we see cops getting a free pass on the same behavior.
“Why not utilize some other less lethal options that are at their disposal such as a taser or pepper spray?”
Exactly what I said the first time they posted a similar article on this. The police however, always like to go for one step higher in the lethal force than necessary. Whoever taught them that ought to be taken out back and hung by the neck and balls. Period!
They are going to bring upon themselves an action something like Assault on Precinct 13 meets the Tet Offensive.
Shooting my Dog(s) would be the same as shooting 1 of my children. Know that if I was present on my property and I always carry on my property openly and some rogue peace officer (lol) shot my Dog they would not have time to call for help or reload! These rogue cops are becoming more prevalent everyday. It is only a matter of time before there will be more funerals all around.
A dog’s life is worth more than the POS scumbag’s lives that are killing them, IMO.
And I’m a cat person, so what’s that tell you.
Yup. I’ve had 2 Weimaraners, difficult dogs because they’re so smart (they can open doors if you don’t keep them locked), but the most loyal and defensive dogs I’ve ever had, without inflicting injuries on intruders but chasing them off the property. I count them as 2 of the most significant relationships in my life on this planet.