Target: Acquired Mission: Terminate
Posted on 09/04/2012 11:28:50 AM PDT by Altariel
THORNTON, Colo. — A Thornton police officer shoots and kills a family’s dog he claims threatened him Sunday.
But the dog’s family and neighbors dispute that.
They say the American bulldog-mix never even left their front yard.
Police were in the neighborhood chasing after a man wanted on a misdemeanor drug charge.
The man, Phillip Armstrong-Bowen, was already under arrest when the officer shot the animal.
“He was on my screen saver,” says Vivian Girone, of 8-year-old Scar.
Girone like any proud grandma shows off photos of the dog–in the car, snuggling with dad and out-cold on the couch.
“He was almost human,” says Girone.
But her last memory of him brings her to tears.
“He was bleeding profusely. And he fell in. I dragged him in. I covered his head and I loved on him. He was so hurt,” says Girone.
A Thornton police officer shot scar once in the face.
The department says in a news release: “….a large pit bull started to run toward the officers from a nearby residence. The dog charged one of the officers and began to leap at one of the officers. To protect himself from the attack as the dog’s mouth was open while charging, the officer fired one round and struck the animal.”
“He wasn’t running, he wasn’t growling, he wasn’t barking. He was not lunging,” says a witness who saw the shooting.
But neighbors and family say the dog didn’t threaten anyone–didn’t even leave the front yard.
“He just saw that dog, didn’t even look twice, went boom,” says the witness who didn’t want to be identified.
“I had him since he was a puppy. I raised him. He was the most lovable dog you could ever imagine. He learned to play football. He made touchdowns. He just wouldn’t return the ball back,” says John Lara, the dog’s owner.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do without him. He was just one of us, you know,” says Girone.
But still they wonder why their buddy had to die on his home turf by a man they say is supposed to protect and serve.
“I really want justice just for him. He had no fault in that at all. None,” says Girone.
The family rushed Scar to the veterinarian and paid $1,000 to save his life. But he died anyway.
They say they would have been more understanding of the situation, if the officer had even apologized.
Stories like this are why my home defense strategy has been rebuilt around a battle rifle as opposed to a handgun or shotgun. The threatening scum sometimes wear armor.
Title should read “pigs” not “police”. Someone worthy of being called a “policeman” or anything ending in “man” would at least apologize if he freaked out and shot a dog.
Target: Acquired Mission: Terminate
““He just saw that dog, didn’t even look twice, went boom,” says the witness who didn’t want to be identified.”
That why I have a 6’ wooden, gated, locked fence and a weapon by the back door...and I’m -always- out with the dogs.
There will be _no_ -uncorrected- “mistakes”, here.
Good thing the family didn’t have a big ‘scary’ teenage son standing in the yard.
“Gramma” and the son sure did look like thugs.
/s
An officer today can never be so busy as to not have time to stop and shoot somebody’s dog.
For cops even more so as cops are not the friendly guys of yore.
The mere barring of teeth (especially from a LAB) is not overly threatening to folks who can then try to mollify the doggie before closing the distance.
Sue the pigs. I lost all respect for cops in general long ago, when I found the vast majority of them are lazy time-servers and a sizeable minority are cowardly bullies.
We always take our two Lhasas on trips. I’m paranoid of getting stopped by a trigger happy cop. One of the dogs will bark like the dickens if anyone gets near the car. So, if we’re stopped my wife is going to hold the dog in her lap. If we’re ever ordered out of the car the dogs will be on leashes BEFORE we step out.
Don't dial 911.
Why are the police killing family pets?
I wonder how many points that cop got. The game has gone national.
It must have been his bad breath because we know that the police never discharge their guns without a good reason --
Is that you, Chett99?
This is what's in my vehicle:
If anyone even looks like they're thinking of getting near the car with me in it, 'barking like the dickens' doesn't even begin to cover his reaction.
He's securely buckled in with a heavy duty dog seat belt so he's utterly no threat unless I unbuckle the belt but I can easily imagine some pig trying to boost his testosterone levels by shooting him through the window.
He's my support dog so I have the conundrum; take him with me and risk having him murdered or leave him home and sacrifice the service/support he's been trained to provide?
I should not even have to remotely consider these things *just* to have my dog with me.
America has gone mad.
If, God forbid, the above scenario ever happens, the dog and I will be slaughtered together along some road, somewhere.
No one will vindicate his death but perhaps they'll vindicate mine.
We call no one.
We can handle anything ourselves, just fine.
Because they can.
No, she is not.
She invests a lot of effort to alert the rest of us about what is happening in the madhouse that was once America.
“Why are the police killing family pets?”
Because they can.
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