Posted on 06/12/2002 4:05:22 AM PDT by 2Trievers
The dog bit 9-year-old Brandon Livingston on the right leg and dragged him for about 20 feet, according to his mother Lorraine. Witnesses said Barger commanded Dolpho to stop at least four times, but the dog kept going after the boy, who is black.
"We saw the policeman, then the dog, and we all started running in the house," the boy said. "I was the last one to go, and I got bit by the dog when I was on the second step."
Brandon Livingston was treated at a local hospital. He has been having flashbacks and must be medicated several times per day, his mother said.
"This is something that will take him a while to get over," she said. "The officer had no control over that animal. That dog should be put to sleep."
Barger has worked with Dolpho for more than two years, and he takes the dog home with him at night. He said the dog has never gone after the wrong person before, but it became confused during the tense situation Friday.
"The dog saw movement. There was a lot of noise, a lot of screaming," Barger said. "It was basically just complete chaos, and the dog could not tell who the bad guy was and who the good people were."
Dixon told fellow council members that she has received six complaints about attacks by Dolpho in the past year. Three of them were from people who were involved with drugs, and the other three were from black people who said they think race was a factor.
"I received complaints from African-Americans saying they believe the dog only attacks African-Americans," Dixon said Monday. "I think the dog makes the distinction."
Chief Robert Martineau said the dog is good around children, and even visits local schools and day care centers.
"To say the dog is racial... that's ludicrous. That doesn't make sense," Martineau said.
"He's part of my family and it's disturbing," Barger said. "He's a police officer just like I am."
Dolpho has been taken off active duty while an investigation continues and officials determine who owns the animal -- the borough, the police department, or Barger.
"A hyphenated American is not an American at all.
This is just as true of the man who puts 'Native' before the hyphen as of the man who puts German or Irish or French before the hyphen.
Americanism is a matter of the spirit and of the soul.
Our allegiance must be purely to the United States.
We must unsparingly condemn any man who holds any other allegiance."
Theodore Roosevelt... 1915
They'll find out during the next coffee break! LOL &;-)
Good morning & keep up the good work.
First of all, you run and a dog will chase you...
second, the dog went after the nearest "threat"...
and finally if the rest of his family hadn't hauled ass and left him behind, they might have been able to help him!!
This is a front runner for the most stupid thing I've ever heard.
It appears the solution is obvious. Charge Dolpho with a hate crime. Put him on trial, then highly publicize it, dopey liberals.
-**Find your local news/media types--
to send letters to three Pittsburg papers... use this zip code: 15136 to get a list of papers. Amusingly enough, this mailer is a "progressive" site- they do offer pre-written letters for their causes, but you can choose to write your own...
BTW, this is one of the most asinine and idiotic things I have ever read.
And the incipient doper victim-voter group begins to take shape right on schedule. Within ten years, drug users will be classed as their own minority group entitled to special government benefits and protections. It will be a hate crime to speak negatively about their lifestyles and chosen addictions.
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