Another case of an officer shooting and killing a dog who charged out of the door at him.

 

I don't fully get the thought of many that an officer should wait until the dog is actually locked onto the leg or arm before deciding to shoot.

 

Call me a simpleton but I say if your dog comes AT the officer he/she's fair game and it's on YOU.

 

Florida cop shoots, kills dog after escaping owner's house | abc7chicago.com

Can't agree. Either in this specific situation or more broadly. I don't know any dog that could be characterized as "friendly" that wouldn't run and jump to greet someone, even if they are well trained and well behaved. By that standard, any dog could be justifiably shot by a police officer and I don't think that's right. The first response of the police when dealing with a dog shouldn't be to shoot, outside of some pretty narrow circumstances.

 

In this case, a family was sitting inside their house, weren't involved or being investigated for a crime, an officer in plain clothes knocks on their door, they open it, their (not very big) dog runs out, he kills their dog. And we say it's the family's fault? If the FedEx guy did that he would be arrested.

If the FedEx guy did that he would be arrested.

To be fair, I think we are always looking for a reason to arrest FedEx guys! Right @plantmanky

Can't agree. Either in this specific situation or more broadly. I don't know any dog that could be characterized as "friendly" that wouldn't run and jump to greet someone, even if they are well trained and well behaved. By that standard, any dog could be justifiably shot by a police officer and I don't think that's right. The first response of the police when dealing with a dog shouldn't be to shoot, outside of some pretty narrow circumstances.

 

In this case, a family was sitting inside their house, weren't involved or being investigated for a crime, an officer in plain clothes knocks on their door, they open it, their (not very big) dog runs out, he kills their dog. And we say it's the family's fault? If the FedEx guy did that he would be arrested.

 

No need for fault to be anywhere.

 

So what should we expect an officer to do when a dog of size is charging at him?

No need for fault to be anywhere.

 

So what should we expect an officer to do when a dog of size is charging at him?

 

I think it depends on the type of dog. But I would think pepper spray like a mailman would work in most cases.

 

Unless this a big dog , most people can avoid injury from an angry dog.

After reading the story I don't see anyway how the officer was right. While he had good intentions if you come on my property you do so at your own risk.

 

Easy question to ask would a normal citizen be able to shoot that dog in the same circumstance.

Double post

No need for fault to be anywhere.

 

So what should we expect an officer to do when a dog of size is charging at him?

 

It depends on the circumstance. If the officer is dealing with a violent suspect and they unleash their snarling pit bull on them it is considerably different than walking to a random person's house and discovering they have a pet. So all interactions aren't equal.

 

I'm not an animal expert, but there are plenty of other people and professions that work with animals without needing guns. There are surely other options for how to handle dogs outside of shooting them and those options ought to be used first, especially in circumstances where the officer is initiating the interaction by walking onto someone's property or house.

After reading the story I don't see anyway how the officer was right. While he had good intentions if you come on my property you do so at your own risk. Easy question to ask would a normal citizen be able to shoot that dog in the same circumstance.

 

Police coming on your property are not fair game.

Police coming on your property are not fair game.

 

Bad use of a words. But if they are coming on my property my dog isn't fair game either.

Bad use of a words. But if they are coming on my property my dog isn't fair game either.

 

You're saying an officer cannot protect himself simply because he is on your property?

You're saying an officer cannot protect himself simply because he is on your property?

 

If he has a warrant to be on my property sure. In this case he didn't. Also like I said it depends on what type of dog.

 

We you say self defense depending on the dog pepper spray is more than enough. If it wasn't wouldn't we of armed our post office workers by now.

This is always a tough situation for all involved.

 

Unfortunately there is no "Catch all" answer for dealing with dogs.

 

Pepper Spray, in many cases that I know of hasn't worked...some dogs just try to catch it in their mouth, like they do if you squirt them with a water hose, and drink it.

 

I think most officers can tell the difference between a friendly dog want to jump up and greet them or be petted and one wanting to cause harm to them. Just like anything else police officers have millions of interactions with dogs each year that we never hear of.

 

And just like in every other profession you have some people that make good decisions and some that make bad ones.

It depends on the circumstance. If the officer is dealing with a violent suspect and they unleash their snarling pit bull on them it is considerably different than walking to a random person's house and discovering they have a pet. So all interactions aren't equal.

 

I'm not an animal expert, but there are plenty of other people and professions that work with animals without needing guns. There are surely other options for how to handle dogs outside of shooting them and those options ought to be used first, especially in circumstances where the officer is initiating the interaction by walking onto someone's property or house.

 

I do not get the point being made about an officer coming onto a property or initiating the contact. Does that somehow change what their response should be vs if it happened on the sidewalk?

We correctly IMO give the officer the benefit of the doubt when a person makes it seem possible that they are reaching for a weapon - even if the officer initiated the contact or came on the victim's property.

 

Why do we not give him the benefit of the doubt when a dog comes charging after him? I'm not talking about a poodle. I'm talking about a dog big enough to do serious damage.