Posted on 03/14/2010 1:13:31 PM PDT by Chet 99
Westlake, OH - Residents in Westlake are protesting the shooting death of a Yellow Labrador retriever named Callaway. Fox News 8 has a full story and video of the rally.
Callaway, along with 2 other portly Labradors, were able to push open a door at their upscale home, setting off a burglar alarm. The responding police officer, Mark Morales, claims to have been charged by Callaway. His response? He shot and killed the dog.
Protesters are outraged that the officer used deadly force on the dog, rather than alternatives, such as a night stick or mace. Most of the people attending the rally were dismayed that the dog, who had never bitten anyone, would be considered dangerous to anyone.
The owner was away at church when the shooting took place. It seems that Officer Morales had previously responded to 4 similar calls to the same residence. Rally protesters want to know why Morales let himself be caught off-guard by the dog if he had encountered him before. Angry town residents want to see Mark Morales fired for his actions. Many feel that he appears to be "trigger happy" and that he could be dangerous. For now, it appears that Morales will remain on the job until an investigation can be completed.
This story is troubling. Should responsible owners fear for their dog's safety in their own backyard? It appears that the dogs were left inside when the owner left, but that somehow they had managed to open a door to get to the back yard.
According to the report, officers had been called out to the house on 4 separate occasions for the same problem. A problem does seem to be apparent if the dogs were able to repeatedly set off alarms and push through doors.
A dog door to the back yard and sensors placed up high so as to avoid the dogs' body movements may have prevented this tragic shooting. Owners who have faced similar problems with their dogs setting off alarm systems should contact their alarm monitoring company, as well as the responding police station, to let them know if there are dogs on the premises.
This type of story typically has an obvious person to point a finger at when looking for a source of blame. Sadly for Callaway, this story is just tragic and unfortunate. Dangerous dogs did not burst through a rickety fence and charge after innocent people or pets. A chained out, aggressive dog did not break free and charge an innocent victim.
Instead, a seemingly mild-mannered yellow Lab was shot and killed in his own secure backyard. In hindsight, some remedies to the problem could have been made by the owner, and perhaps Officer Morales is re-thinking his extreme and deadly response to the barking dog.
Hopefully a thorough investigation will uncover what truly happened on the day that Callaway lost his life and hopefully, the remaining 2 Labs at the residence will be safe and secure in their home and yard for years to come.
Run out of pit bulls to shoot?
LLS
Unh? Do I have a problem with that? Nope!
Too bad the encounter was not videoed. A dog like that might get licky slobber all over the occifer’s face, ya know.
all dogs bigger than a house cat should be shot according to chet99
I think these donut chompers enjoy killing dogs. They probably laugh about these incidents in the locker room and keep tabs on who has killed the most dogs.
I didn’t know PP even did adoption referrals. Does the girl have to pester the hell out of them to get it to happen?
Meanwhile, in Congress, Democrat Congressmen are proposing “deeming passed” $Trillion laws without even having a vote!
Animal rights won’t mean squat because the humans in the country are losing their rights even faster.
Keep protesting, fools.
I have a huge problem with that. Morales was responding to a “burglar alarm” not a “panic alarm” or a “school shooting”. He had reason to contain not exacerbate the situation. The sooner we clear up that cops are there to help citizens solve problems, not cure their problems, the sooner we can stop the Rambo cops who think they are omnipotent.
I haven’t had much luck on dogs using pepper spray or a stick. Two rotts wanted to tear me apart once. I sprayed them and they kept coming. I got away by slamming a door shut on them before they ate me up. That was the one and only time I used spray for dogs.
I’ve also seen a pit bull take a .45 to the head and keep coming.
I think any breed of dog will protect it’s property when a stranger comes around. And dogs don’t like uniforms either. Wish I had a nickel for every time someone told me their dog doesn’t bite and it’s attached it’s jaws to my ankle.
Westlake is a pretty quiet community, I live and work near there. We get bad press for shooting vicious dogs.
just pit bulls
How high can a Lab stand on its rear legs? I would think almost as tall as a man. This isn't any reason to shoot the dog of course. Tasers or mace would seem more appropriate for immobilizing or repelling most pet breeds of dogs.
Any deadly cats?
I object to mixing victim dogs and victim children in the same argument. When I see grown up Democrats, I start feeling more warm and fuzzy about grown up Pit Bulls. But, since you brought it up, the Dems are working on that abortion thing. If they get their way; there will be better average test scores in public schools because of it... (eugenics anyone?)
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