So--- if you were stopped by a cop, while holding your suspicious dogs' collar, and he demanded you put your hands up, and you said if you did, the dog may try to protect you, please don't make me put both hands up...
...and he still made you, the dog growled at him and he shot it... who would be at fault?
We can "what if" until terriers became horses. It was a quick, panicked event. Cops tried to act proactively in what had been reported as a crime situation.
If they'd succeeded in grabbing a bunch of lowlife cretinous robbers (esp. illegal aliens) who'd just robbed Gramma's last $450, most of the FReepers here would be cheering.
They didn't. They made a mistake. It was almost over. But then the cop who was actually there said a pit bull/boxer attacked him and he shot, and not until the last millisecond. That's what actually happened.
So one is either basically with the "Cops! They're jackbooted pigs! Poor doggie! The cop's lying!" school of thought, or he's with the "Cops, they risk their lives daily to keep peace in a fallen world, make decisions weekly that most of us are spare for our entire lives, I'm inclined to cut him some slack" school.
It's clear where a lot of "experts" here are. It's clear where I am. What more do you want? Feel I haven't quite heard plainly enough what some of my darling co-FReepers here think? Believe me, I could pass a written exam. (c;
Dan