Posted on 01/18/2012 8:16:34 PM PST by chrisinoc
DeKalb County, GA - On Tuesday night, a DeKalb County police officer went to a family's home on Silva Court in response to a domestic dispute call.
When the officer went into the family's garage, he encountered a German shepherd who was on a chain.
Upon seeing a stranger approach, the German shepherd lunged - the officer's response was to shoot and kill the dog.
Tragically, after the damage was done, it was discovered that the responding police officer had actually gone to the wrong house.
Right now, the officer is not facing any charges - there will be an internal investigation.
(Excerpt) Read more at m.examiner.com ...
Not only was the dog chained up and the cop at the wrong house but if he was looking for a domestic disturbance what relevance is a garage with only a dog in it? Did he check underneath the cars, in the trees and on the roof too looking for the domestic disturbance? Maybe look in the mailbox?
There’s a double edged legal sword with signs.
If you put up a sign warning of aggressive dogs, you can be nailed for knowing your dogs are aggressive and not “properly controlling them” if some idiot ignores said sign and marches on in, any way.
OTOH, you can also get nailed if your dog bites somebody and they “had no warning”, via the above mentioned sign warning them they’re about to be mauled.
You really can’t win.
You almost have to take a vague, non-committal approach to it, such as “Caution: Dogs In Yard” which could simply mean “Hey stupid. Close the gate. There are dogs in this yard.”
My lifelong approach was a separate yard for the dogs, inaccessible to strangers/visitors and a universally recognizable Dobermann silhouette posted on the front of the house.
You the -know- they’re here but the sign implies nothing more than that they ~are~ here.
Some people opt for fancy little cute yard flags with a Dobe on it or other decorative Dobe stuff in their yard which gives the unaware a heads-up through attractive decor.
You could always take the “concerned owner” approach and post a sign on the gate that simply says “Please close gate. Dogs in yard.”
That way, people know to expect dogs loose in your yard yet you are not overtly threatening them with the dogs and it can legally be construed as your concern for the welfare of your dogs, namely, warning people to kindly not leave the gate open.
[and apparently, some cops would simply take it as a cue to draw weapons and assassinate the dog in a preemptive strike]
They can get you coming and going, can’t they?
:-\
Why can’t people understand that occasionally the police are going to kick their front doors down by mistake every now and then? Sheesh.
Gee.
That’s a really good question.
WTH -was- he doing in the garage?
In a semi-related vein, up the pike a ways [Cumberland, specifically] some dude got pulled over for speeding and the next thing he knows a drug dog is there and he gets nailed for 5 pounds of weed in his trunk.
I’m all for nailing dopers but what provoked a warantless search of his vehicle for drugs?
The drug dog just happened to be there?
It’s not like we have many K9 units patrolling randomly out here in the boonies...and even fewer drug dogs.
What happens if I get pulled over in the middle of nowhere for a dead tail light bulb and my Dobe is in the truck?
Does he get shot because he “deeply resents” mommy being pulled out of the truck and “patted down”?
[SOP, here, if you’re a halfway decent looking woman]
Frankly, I sure hope hay doesn’t smell like pot or I’m screwed.
The back of the Yuke is always littered with stray hay bits because of the goats.
[I'm getting too old and anti-social for "subtle" and I live where nobody visits, anyway]...LOL
I’d laugh at that if weren’t so close to the truth.
Funny thing is, if they kick my front door down, they wind up in a little 6’ x 3’ “dog trot” with two ~more~ doors to kick down...both of which are surplus steel prison doors hubby was given when he was the MCI welder.
And I can see what’s happening at the front door from my sofa.
So much for ~their~ ‘element of surprise’.
If they choose “Door #1”, they’ll find me, guns, dogs and 13 Boas and Pythons because my snake room is right through that door.
It’s a funny mental picture, isn’t it?
“SURPRISE!!”
[”I die laughing”!]
;D
... If they choose “Door #1”, they’ll find me, guns, dogs and 13 Boas and Pythons because my snake room is right through that door.
Now that's what I call Urban Planning! lol
Does he get shot because he “deeply resents” mommy being pulled out of the truck and “patted down”? [SOP, here, if you’re a halfway decent looking woman]
God made abandoned mine shafts for a reason. ;^)
Funny thing is, if they kick my front door down, they wind up in a little 6’ x 3’ “dog trot” with two ~more~ doors to kick down...both of which are surplus steel prison doors hubby was given when he was the MCI welder.
... If they choose “Door #1”, they’ll find me, guns, dogs and 13 Boas and Pythons because my snake room is right through that door.
That’s what they call “free building materials inadvertently benefiting crazy woman”....;D
God made abandoned mine shafts for a reason. ;^)
W.MD is absolutely covered with old iron ore pits, mining shafts, tiny cave entrances and sundry unidentifiable ‘bottomless holes’ in the mountains.
[we consider them all to be potential assets and you couldn’t *pay* me to go poking around in any of them, just to see what’s down there]
LOL
Not knowing why the dog was tethered you might want to settle down a bit.
“I have a hundred bucks that says the “Internal investigation” will exonerate the cop from all wrong doing”
Whoever they interviewed from the PD was blatantly cold. They are not responsible for shooting a dog at the wrong house—NO liability.
As has been pointed out many times here, the militarization of the cops (e.g. I have both city and county SWAT Teams "protecting" me) is not a good thing.
A Lab my son has now knew the USPS uniforms and trucks and would eagerly approach all of them as one of our mailmen used to have treats for her. She's likely the country's biggest fan of the USPS.
Of course none of that would stop Eric H0lder.
LO
I was thinking about the signs and believe a proper one would have an icon of a police officer and words along the lines of:
"Don't even THINK about shooting the dogs"
There’s been several reports of police shooting chained dogs, now.
This isn’t the first time.
This is a pattern.
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