Posted on 10/17/2015 5:49:57 AM PDT by Altariel
A bomb-sniffing combat dog named Mike survived two tours of duty in Iraq but not the streets of a bucolic little town in Wyoming.
The 9-year-old Belgian Malinois was shot and killed in Powell last Saturday by a bicyclist who said he was attacked, leaving Mike’s devastated owner Matthew Bessler, a retired Army Ranger, wondering how he is going to deal with his combat-related injuries alone.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Good fences make good neighbors.
The story says that the dog was shot in the rear. Sounds like a trigger happy bicyclist to me...
The story says (the owner) said the dog was shot in the rear.
The dog escaped from its house while the owner was away hunting. This is a tragic story, but there may not be a real bad guy here.
Bad situation, it seems to me.
I used to ride my motorcycle up my narrow block late at night from work. Almost every night a large German Shepherd would run up to me but usually give me a few feet to pass. One night she did not stop and came right to my left side. I removed my left , cowboy booted foot from the peg and hit her square in the head and rolled her. For quite a while after that she barked at me from her front porch till I moved later that year. I didn’t really hurt her.....just got her attention. I wouldn’t shoot a dog unless I was sure it meant me harm. Fine line I guess.
From the original news article:
Bessler described Mike as a nice dog who was gentle with children, enjoyed being petted and always wanted to play ball.
“He would never attack someone,” he said. “The only time he ever protected property was when somebody stepped on to my property and looked into the back of my truck.”
Bessler added that Mike effectively had no teeth from years of chewing rocks out of anxiety.
Bessler said Mike “never gets out on the road” and would only briefly run alongside people passing by.
“I believe the gentleman just shot the dog on my property,” Bessler said, adding, “I don’t buy his story.”
The man said the encounter took place in the road, and Steward said that’s consistent with what the neighbor told the deputy.
“She comes out, and laying in the intersection was this guy’s bike and him standing there,” Steward said.
The man initially reported he’d been attacked by a “pack of dogs,” but he later admitted that — while several other dogs came near him — only Mike threatened him, Mathess said.
Bessler said the three other dogs with Mike when the incident occurred were smaller than Mike, including a puppy, and that none of them are aggressive.
“If it went down the way the guy said it did, then so be it,” Bessler said. “But I’m disgusted with the fact that the guy hasn’t even shown his face to say, ‘I’m sorry this happened.’”
Steward said the Sheriff’s Office plans to follow up on a few inconsistencies, such as whether bird or buck shot was used, but he said “everything’s pretty consistent with what the victim’s telling us.”
Bessler said his next step will be having an autopsy performed and “memorializing, remembering Mike and taking care of services.”
“I don’t know,” he said. “I’m still so flabbergasted over the whole thing of why a person would be carrying the types of things he (the bicyclist) was carrying.”
Steward doesn’t think it’s that unusual for someone to be carrying a weapon.
“A lot of people, when they walk or ride bikes around here, they’ve got pepper spray, a gun or a stick,” he said. “And that’s because dogs come out and chase bikes (and) people.”
The sheriff called it “tragic all the way around.”
http://powelltribune.com/news/item/14141-service-dog-retired-military-k-9-killed-in-weekend-incident
The story also says that the dog got out and it allegedly suffered PTSD as well as being a combat dog; a dog specifically trained to attack a perceived threat if necessary.
In other words it is a dog which required additional safeguards to keep it securely on the owner’s property.
The bicyclist, unable to deter the dog or summon its master, opens fire on an animal that is presumably moving back and forth. Not being an expert marksman, he misses his target and hits the dog in the rear.
Responsible dog ownership means making sure your dog will not leave your property. A trained service dog should also be with the owner at all times.
The dog's just being a dog. You don't have to shoot it, or kick it, or pepper spray it...
I would imagine he'd "deal" with them like thousands of other vets.
I did just that one time, and was rewarded by my shoe being removed with some gouges on my foot. These incidents are situational, never categorized by "the correct thing to do".
Human life and safety trumps all animals. That is the final analysis. Dogs should not have unfettered access to the public.
It could have been a trigger happy bicyclist
I have since learned how to read dogs. If the dog wants to just check me out, I stop, let him sniff, and then I’m on my way. There are other times the dog just wants someone to run with. You can tell by the “doggie smile”. Smile back.
its pretty hard to ride a bike with one hand, feet moving, and with the other hand draw and shoot a pistol. that makes me wonder what really happened.
So the guy has severe PTSD and he is running around the woods with weapons?
but he said “everything’s pretty consistent with what the victim’s telling us.” <<<
a dead dog that can talk????...AMAZING!
I have an idiot in my neighborhood that does not put his dog on a leash at times. It’s a big dog..I was walking my dog and this dog came charging at me. Jumping me to get to my dog. Almost knocked me down. I had to use a car parked in the road to try to protect my dog. The owner was quite a ways away. I was screaming at him to get his damn dog. Luckily , I didn’t get bitten nor did my dog that was now in my arms.. Had I had a gun..I might have shot it. You don’t know when you are facing getting maimed.
Did you miss the part about using his bike to try to fend off the mentally unbalanced dog? Usually you dismount to use your bike as a barrier.
Aggressive 9 yr old dog is questionable. he must have looked ferocious barking with no teeth.
Worse yet, a shotgun!
I didn’t see type of weapon specifically listed but article says they are trying to determine birdshot or buckshot!
sure was. I’m worried about Bessler. Took me 20 years to get another dog after mine died. She was with me when I went through hell and I didn’t have PTS or TBI.
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