The part where I completely lost sympathy for Applegate and her dog was when the neighbor said that the dog was often off leash running up to people. Sweet once he got there, but scared the HELL out of people.
Domestic disturbance and the report that someone was stabbed - go into the yard and be approached by a growling pit bull? Sounds like any reasonable person would shoot.
That or pull a “Columbine” (where a small explosion made the LEO’s cower in apathetic and pathetic inaction for hours) and let a potential stabbing victim bleed out while they fetched a dog restrainer or waited for animal control.
I agree with you. A dog can easily run the distance of two houses in a couple of seconds. You don’t have the time to decide if he’s a nice pitbull or not a nice pitbull.
I don’t have a problem in this situation. If the dog was in the backyard and tied up or if the dog was of a breed that isn’t known for attacking and biting people, then I would have a problem.
This is unfair to the cops at Columbine. They did not go into the building because they were following doctrine, which assumed the situation would turn into a hostage negotiation, and a gunfight would increase casualties.
As it turned out, the doctrine was totally wrong for a situation where the attackers were just killing people, not taking them hostage. But saying the cops were cowardly is condemning them with the benefit of hindsight.