Posted on 12/21/2006 7:18:44 PM PST by FreedomCalls
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Police shot a man's dog in front of his daughter on Wednesday night.
Channel 3 Eyewitness News reporter Jamie Roth reported Hartford police officers shot a St. Bernard by the front door of Glen Harris' home. ...
Harris claimed it all began when officers unexpectedly showed up in the yard. ...
"They didn't knock. They ignored the sign, the dog sees or hears (and) protects my daughter, so he ran toward him -- not growling, not foaming at the mouth, not anything," Harris said.
Police told Eyewitness News the officers were investigating a complaint about guns when the dog charged them. Two officers said they ran to the street and that the dog lunged at the second officers, who fired three shots.
Harris said his daughter saw the whole thing.
"While she's running toward the dog, they kill him. She's yelling, 'Why'd you shoot him? I was going to get him. Why'd you shoot him?'" Harris said.
Police continue to investigate the incident. The police report in the incident does not list any guns found at the Harris home and no one was arrested.
Funny, Freepers are usually pretty supportive of self defense, unless it's a cop who we send in to do our dirty work for us, he's not allowed to defend himself against the pit bulls of drug dealers? I see.
Another distinction... Mailmen aren't armed, they just get bitten or refuse to deliver to an address with a bad dog. The work of a cop is a little different, he's not allowed to just go right on by if it looks dangerous, is he?
deleting unintended tagline
(wondered where that sentence went!)
What part of the story did you not understand? How did a St. Bernard become a pit bull, and how did "The police report in the incident does not list any guns found at the Harris home and no one was arrested" become the home of a drug dealer?
Another distinction... Mailmen aren't armed, they just get bitten or refuse to deliver to an address with a bad dog. The work of a cop is a little different, he's not allowed to just go right on by if it looks dangerous, is he?
So any dog that comes towards you wagging its tail "looks dangerous" now and deserves to be shot on the spot?
The stories you posted to try to prove to me that cops kill dogs all the time, half of those were pit bulls, and were probably not owned by little church ladies with edged yards lined with tulips. I'm gonna guess a look at this place with the St Bernard would be enlightening too.
So any dog that comes towards you wagging its tail "looks dangerous" now and deserves to be shot on the spot?
No. You missed the point. You compared the work of a police officer with that of a mailman. If a mailman or parcel delivery so much as sees a loose dog they don't go to the door, they refuse and leave a note in the mailbox. I don't think cops have the same luxury.
And in the story linked the cop was told repeatedly to close the car's door so the dog would not get out. He refused and when the dog got out and approached him wagging its tail, the cop shot it. He had a choice. He chose to shoot first. Same for the top story here, the girl was calling her dog back and instead of simply waiting for it to retreat, they shot it. Now shooting might be justified if you are in hot pursuit, or have a warrant for a violent suspect, but in cases where the cops are exercising their discretion and there are children present, they need to not choose a shoot-first approach.
I didn't read the story you linked, anecdotes of unrelated stories have proved to be unhelpful in rationally discussing ~this~ case. So a cop has in the past made a bad shoot. If that's proved I'd argue it that way. But it doesn't make a bit of difference in assessing this case. You simply can't make sweeping statements.... well, you can, but you betray your bias when you do.
Why does this profession attract so many human turds?
I'm sure an internal investigation will show that this upstanding officer was completely justified.
I did discuss ~this case~. Repeating: "...the girl was calling her dog back and instead of simply waiting for it to retreat, they shot it." There was no need for them to shoot it. They could have waited for it to return to the girl, had her or her parents secure it, then followed up with the inquiry about guns that originally brought them there. The shooting was unnecessary and cruel.
You think... You've made up a scenario where this was a happy go lucky dog who was just bounding around like Beethoven. It very easily could have been a very aggressive dog who was no where near under the control of a 12 year old or the parents, even if the cops could afford the time for her to catch up to it before it attacked them.
It just depends on what you want to imagine.
It just depends on what you want to imagine.
And you have imagined there's a vicious dog here.
Well the cops thought it was an attack, and short of having real facts to contradict them, it really doesn't matter what you, or I think. Good night.
I don't know much about St. Bernards, but the family decided to put up a Beware of the Dog sign. Why, if the dog was not dangerous?
Could be the same reason doctors order tests they don't need, an over abundance of lawyers. If I had a big dog I'd put up a sign just in case. Of course it could have been like the fake home security stickers people put in their windows.
I hate reading newspapers simply because there is rarely enough details to make the story usefull.
My dog is NOT aggressive, nor could it be. But if I put up a Beware of Dog sign, I would expect anyone who heard my dog bark to be alarmed, including the police. But if you saw my toy poodle, you would laugh at her. If you saw a St. Bernard after seeing a Beware of Dog sign I bet you'd shoot too.
If you saw a St. Bernard after seeing a Beware of Dog sign I bet you'd shoot too.
You got that right. Most saints are teddy bears but occasionally you run into an exception.
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