Posted on 11/13/2007 6:20:23 PM PST by Malacoda
CHESTER TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Pennsylvania State Police shot a family's fenced-in pet to death Tuesday.
Troopers later admitted they weren't supposed to be in that yard in the first place.
State troopers were in the neighborhood, trying to serve a warrant on someone. They sent a couple of extra troopers around to guard the back door. Those officers, however, cut through a neighbor's yard, and that's when they came across Sheeba, a very protective family dog, NBC 10's Tim Furlong reported.
"She was doing her job. That's what she does, she protects us," said DiQuan Dill said.
DiQuan and his five brothers and sisters got the bad news when they got home from school Tuesday that their Belgian shepard was killed in their back yard.
Their mom was there when it happened.
"I was in there laying down and, all of a sudden, I heard gunfire -- about five or six rounds," Denise Dill said.
But what disturbed the family most was that state police killed Sheeba.
"When I came to the door, they were actually next door, and I said, 'What's the matter? Who shot my dog?' And he was like, 'Your dog bit me.' I said, 'What are you doing in the yard?' And he said, 'We're looking for this guy over here.' I said, 'Why did you have to shoot the dog?' He said, 'She bit me.' I said, 'Why you didn't just get out of the yard?'"
Denise's fiancée was devastated, and she said the kids were even more upset.
"She was always happy. I don't know why they did that. She was always joyful, running around, everything," DiQuan said.
The bitten state trooper was recovering from puncture wounds to his hand.
A lieutenant at his barracks admitted the trooper should never have cut through the yard in the first place. He told NBC 10 the troopers never saw or heard the dog in the yard but that, either way, troopers are not supposed to cut through private property to serve out a warrant at another house.
"He obviously panicked, you know, and messed up," Dill said.
She got business cards from the troopers on scene, and she said one trooper apologized.
But an apology can't bring Sheeba back to the kids who grew up with her.
"We got dog food and everything, and we don't have anyone to give it to. We don't got nothing," Dill said.
State police said they do apologize and will compensate the family for their loss, Furlong reported. The man they came to get was taken into custody on pretty minor charges, Furlong said.
A simple recon of the neighborhood would have prevented this from happening. A ride down the alley in a garbage truck, google a sat pic and map, homeless dumpster diver, old gomers collecting aluminum cans are good cover for the oldest worst looking cop ya have on the team ......etc . As a former deputy I know that is not always possible but with todays technology available too a LEO at street level ......such shouldn’t happen.
Arm chair QB crap aside from me..... I think they didn’t.
Stay safe !
‘Oh yea....
Anyone who shoots my dog can expect me to shoot them back...cop, Pope, or Queen of England.’
Same view here. Attack my dog, I’ll turn you off like a light switch.
Whats weird is the dog apparently didn’t bark with all the commotion ‘next door’ nor did the owner hear anything til the shots. My dogs ‘go off’ if a SQUIRREL is running across the yard....and I always look to see what the ruckus is about.
Anybody know what the neighborhood is like?
“We’ll do our best to make sure they put that on your tombstone, Tex...”
if you are a cop that shoots dogs fenced on private property, what do you want on your tombstone? Darwin award winner?
“It’s a brave new world out there Jethro.”
Yep, one in which the sheep are expected to just shut up and take it. You may enjoy the taste of licked boots, but most people still find it offensive.
Okay.
Sorry about that.
Chester is a not-so-great area. Lots of rowhouses, some drug crime. Blue-collar, mostly. From the local news, it looks like they were in a row home or duplex, with a postage-stamp backyard.
Thanks...thats pretty much what I saw in my minds ‘eye’ so to speak after reading this.
presumably they are on your land. If so than thats perfectly acceptable. or do you just drive around and shoot herding dogs when you see them? perhaps your name should be MadMax, not MaxMax.
I knew what you were thinking. I feel the same way too! We have a Belgian Shepherd and they are very territorial, but great dogs. Ours is the Belgian Tervuren just like the one pictured earlier in this thread. We lost a Belgian Sheepdog (the all black variety) last December to cancer.
My husband is a FedEx guy. He says he has no trouble with the big dogs. A man came to the door with a Rottie. The owner was trying to get him to stay back. My husband told the dog to sit and it just did. The owner was amazed. Now those cotton ball dogs that are smaller than a cat, those are the ones who bite my husband. He'shad his calf bitten twice by the same cotton ball and once by another little dog. He now only flinches when he sees a cotton ball walking around.
Here is an interesting question: What if the dog had actually taken out the cop? Say this dog was a trained guard dog, and was able to get the drop on the cop by way of hiding in some bushes. What if the dog succeeded in protecting his master’s property by removing the cop’s throat? What kind of charges do you think the police would try to attach to the dog’s owner? Would they hold up in court? I wonder. The cop was killed while trespassing, but cops are above the law, so who would win?
Allow me to join your quarterbacking...Sounds to me this was just an arrest warrant service so I'm not sure what the big hurry was to get someone out back. We've all done this and not all homes have easy rear access. What I've learned is it never hurts to let someone know you need to get in their yard to avoid certain pitfalls. Most everyone is willing to help out and it's just good PR.
These troopers literally "screwed the pooch" and should be held accountable. OTH I find it ironic with the comments here about shooting someone, regardless who they are if they kill their dog. Not exactly what I'd call a measured response. I'd be working on my early retirement/ kid's college fund courtesy of the particular juridiction. The emotional trauma would be too much for my family to bear. 8>)
LOL........awesome !!
If some Bonehead starts talking about shooting cops, is it very smart to fall in line behind him?
Here’s your sign...
Does this mean I get to shoot those nasty police dogs that bark at me whenever I pass by?
The department should have to pay BIG for this and these cops should be fired and barred from ever working for a police department again.
But the way things work now-a-days, they will more than likely get time off WITH pay as “punishment”.
Been trying to ignore this comment for days now, but it stays in my mind like a splinter so I’d like to address it...
That is the ARROGANT attitude that cops have. It is the reason LEOs are no longer respected. You want respect, show respect. Your comment shows you have no respect for the public so expect the public to reciprocate. My name is not ‘Tex’ or ‘buddy’. Part of being respectful toward folk are addressing them by their proper name.
I have no desire or wish to kill anyone; however, I will not allow any of my family (my dog IS part of my family) to be killed unjustly.
I have no illusion as to how an armed confrontation between LE and myself would end. Question is, how many will I take with me. You have no idea of my training, capabilities or willingness to affect violence of action. If you are LE (and I suspect you are), get off your high horse. You bleed red like the rest of us.
AD
Whenever I hear (in this case read) something that someone says that is so far over the top as to be ridiculous as your initial post, I feel compelled to call them on it.
We live in a nation of laws. I do agree that it is wrong to haphazardly go around shooting other people’s animals. If it does happen (God forbid!) you still don’t have the right to take another person’s life for it. Period.
Additionally, you’re wrong about me being a LEO (not that it matters). Even if I was a cop I would be *on* *your* *side* for seeking restitution and disciplinary actions against any cop who unlawfully shot your pet. The second you make the decision to use deadly force on a human because of a pet, I have to part company. I sincerely hope that, as a fellow gun owner, you wouldn’t act so irresponsibly. Our rights are being eroded already; there’s no need to fan the gun-grabbing left’s flames.
Re: arrogance...
I did suspect that your proper name isn’t actually ‘Tex’ or “buddy’. I have the feeling that it isn’t ‘appalachian’ or ‘dweller’ either though... besides, when you talk like a wild west gunslinger, should you be surprised if someone calls you ‘Tex’?
Just a FRiendly reminder: Please: NO profanity, NO personal attacks, NO racism or violence in posts.
My initial post was not over the top. Kill my dog for no good reason and I’ll bring you to room temperature.
As for ‘a nation of laws’....when those that enforce the laws are above those same laws, there is no law.
As far as acting irresponsibly, talk to the tresspassing and lost cops that killed the dog.
Don’t put the hoo-doo on me for being a gun owner - I wasn’t the the gun carying dipweed in the WRONG YARD.
ANYONE can carry a weapon. Doing so RESPONSIBLY is another matter.
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