I may be the jack-booted thug that some posters have alluded to. (I Am a deputy sheriff) I am new to this forum, but I ran across it while doing a web search. Anyway, Tuesday evening while I was walking to a house to post an eviction notice I was attacked by a pit bull. The dog tore up my left hand requiring 12 stitches. I shot the dog right after he released my left hand. Apparently the home owner was still upset at us for:
-taking his sawed-off shotgun
-taking his Desert Eagle pistol
-taking his methamphetamines
about one month ago. And I entered the property WITHOUT a warrant! I had only a Writ of Restitution to serve, I was not there to perform the actual eviction yet. I do feel bad that I shot someones pet. The dog was doing what he was trained to do and I do not fault it. I love animals and have three horses and one dog. But if this happened again I would respond the same way.
So, flame away!
Well Jim if you read through my posts I supported what the officer did. I was a volunteer with tha LA county sheriff office on search and rescue so I got your back on this one.
It is the law that you as an officer or anyone in public can approach the front of a house. There is no expectation of privacy. I am glad you shot that dog, I hope you saved a clip for the owners of the meth lab too.
Hang in there and I hope you get better soon. Ignore the idiots on this site that love an animal more than a person that goes to work everyday willingly putting thier lives at risk to protect not only them but their property ( read pets) too.
I don't have a problem putting down an animal when it is a real threat. The problem I do have is the lack of familarity many people have with animals now days. Unfortunately, this crosses over to the Law Enforcement Community.
Officers of the Law are in a unique position where they are often called upon to interact with people with pets. Sometimes, as in your recent case, the pets are a threat to the life of the Officer, or even to the completion of their duty. Most of the time, however, most animals kept as pets are nervous, curious, or confused about the commotion caused by a legal interaction. Having training in basic animal behavior would be of great benefit to Law Officers and to those harmless pets that they might interact with.