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I don’t believe that there is enough in “reparations” the PD can or will pay to overcome the traumatic loss of the dog. A dog isn’t a “pet”, a dog is family and this family should sue until the city has been bled of every dollar they can get.

We have 7 dogs and consider all them to be our “children”. Were this to happen at MY house, I would end up dead because there would be dead cops and gunshots all over the place after I grabbed MY gun and started shooting back.

Just because a dog is big, DOESN’T make it vicious. Too many of these incidents are occurring where cops enter a house (the RIGHT one OR the WRONG one!) and shoot the dog right off the bat. There is no reason or justification for this and the practice needs to stop, NOW!!!

I, generally, try to side with cops. They have a tough job (sometimes) and they are constantly exposed to unexpected or dangerous situations, but that doesn’t give them the right to shoot an animal. Would they shoot a 16 year-old who happened to play fullback or halfback on the HS football team just because he was big?

This is an issue of training, communication and discipline. All 3 are missing from too many police departments across the country!!

Does anyone know what the laws are regarding police officers or other people coming onto your property? It sounds like whether or not he will be reprimanded, there isn’t a legal issue as to this man coming onto the property to begin with, even though it was the wrong location. So all that it takes is someone to report your house, or in the unlikely event that it’s the wrongly identified house, to have something like this happen?

I agree with you on your main points. I have four dogs and they are family. I was also a LEO with the state police. I watched the tape and heard the video. I think the officer was too hasty to pull the trigger. But let's look at what he thought he was walking into. MAN WITH GUN. You have a split second to react or you may be dead. I have seen other cases where it was much more clear cut as to the officer being a total moron.
The officer IMO fired too soon. He did not give the man any time to react to stop the dog. Also if you have ever been in a life or death situation your adrenaline is flowing at the max. I never had to kill anyone but I was about a half second from blowing a hole in a guy (warrants out on him) who didn't like me for some reason. Luckily for him he saw reason and I didn't fire. But I would have and would not have lost any sleep over it.
This one was a tough call but if I am going into a situation where the only info. I have is man with gun I am going to be prepared. I agree training is not what it used to be. I guess the only thing I can say is I am not sure if I would have shot or not but I would like to think I would not simply because I have been around dogs all my life.
I think it is a valid point to determine if an officer has an unreasonable fear of animals. That needs to be addressed. But the case here is one of those where I can see both sides but tend to come down on the side of the owner of the dog.

This is an issue of training, communication and discipline. All 3 are missing from too many police departments across the country!!

Actually, it is not the police training that is at fault, it is the determinate negligence of dog owners to train, discipline, and instill automatic obedience to voice/hand commands to their "pet." Neither will they commit to be accountable for the pet's unacceptable behavior. Instead, they typically shift the blame, then publicize the event to a touchy-feely pet-lover community whose compassion is often misplaced.

On the other hand, the police professionals understand exactly how to achieve immediate, unquestioning obedience in their K9 dogs. Why should not the dog owner commit to the same level of accountability?

Lack of owner responsibility for control of the dog may well be the underlying reason why so many incidents are increasing. A plethora of untrained pit bulls, Rottweilers, and Dobermans not temperamentally suited for urban families may also multiply these tensions.