Dog Owners Beware: Police Officers Are Killing Family Dogs
Cisco was executed by police in his own yard
Credits:
Michael Paxton
Dog owners beware! Police officers are killing family dogs in the name of justice and self defense. I'd like to present the readers with three examples of innocent dogs being killed by police because they were mistaken as "vicious attack dogs."
On May 10, 2011, Ava, a four year old German Shepherd, was gunned down when her owner called the police to report harassing phone calls. Officer Jamie Chester of the Erie Police Department responded to a call at the home of Brittany Moore and what should have been a routine call ended in the execution of her beloved dog Ava.
This was the second time Officer Chester has shot and killed a family dog while on duty. The police report and the owner's statement on what happened are of course conflicting. Officer Chester claims to have shot and killed Ava in self defense. Brittany Moore stated Ava had already turned around and was coming back to her side when she was brutally gunned down.
On April 14, 2012 Michael Paxton's seven-year-old Australian Cattle Dog (Blue Heeler) was gunned down in front of him by Office Griffin with the Austin Police Department. Tragically, the officer responded to the wrong address while on a criminal domestic violence call.
According to a statement issued by Paxton, the officer drew his gun on him as he came from his back yard to his driveway. Paxton was being held at gunpoint when Officer Griffin shot and killed Cisco when Cisco came running around the side of the house barking at the officer. Despite his owner's pleas not to kill his dog, Cisco was shot and killed.
It wasn't until after Cisco had been shot and the officer asked Paxton if he had a girlfriend it was realized a mistake had been made.
Michael Paxton has been told he can't take any legal action against the officer or the police department. He is checking into civil action and also wants to bring this topic to the public. He hopes to enact legislation that will set dog aggression standards involving police coming onto private property so this won't happen to another innocent family pet.
Austin Police Department spokesperson Anthony Hipolito has confirmed the case is being investigated.
More recently, a Forth Worth dog belonging to Mark and Cindy Bowling was shot in the back after being suspected of being a "pit bull." Gracie, a border collie mix, came into her back yard to greet a Forth Worth police officer who was responding to a copper theft call at the wrong address. Despite the owner's pleas not to shoot their dogs (their dog Lillie was unharmed), the officer shot and killed Gracie, who died within minutes in her back yard where she should have been "safe."
The officer has stated he told the Bowling's several times to call off their dogs. As the dogs were getting closer, the officer shot the dog closest to him.
In all three cases, the police stated on their reports that they were threatened by the dogs. Whether or not that's true, well, I urge you to form your own opinion.
The situation of police officers killing family dogs is very distressing to me. We do all we can to give our dogs a good home. We like to think they're safe as long as they stay by our side on our own private property.
Two of these dogs were killed when the officer responding went to the wrong address. This tells me it doesn't really matter if you're a law abiding citizen. If the officer can't follow directions on where he needs to go, then YOUR dog could become a victim like Ava, Cisco and Gracie.
Police reports always tend to rule in favor of the officer rather than the dog owner. That's a given. A police officers word will probably always take priority over a statement issued by a private citizen.
I don't know what advice to offer dog owners. There have also been reports of family dogs being killed by police when police went into fenced back yards where the family dog lived. For some reason, officers tend to think if a dog approaches them, it's to attack and not to say "hello." Does a dog barking give an officer legal recourse to use deadly force?
These deaths are brutal, they're senseless, and they usually happen too fast for the dog owner to prevent them. These are not criminals being approached for questioning. They're average people like you and I. These officers were's answering life or death emergency calls. They could have allowed someone to take the dogs to a safe place before questioning the property owner. Instead they react out of fear. Or should I save OVER reacted. It amazes me how much can be dismissed just by the words "pit bull." Do these responding officers need glasses?
Two of these three cases involved mistaken address calls. Perhaps we need to train our officers better on where they're going when they respond to a call. Or make the dog leash laws a little clearer and let us know whether our dogs must be on a leash while on personal property when accompanied by the owner.
I've included the actual police video taken from the Austin Police Department patrol car. It's long, but details what took place. I would like to caution the readers to strong language in this video.
The sad reality is according to the law, these officers had every right to kill these dogs judging on how they were trained and the situation they believed they were put in. Should any of these cases go to trial and the judge rules in favor of the officer, that sets a precedent for future cases. There are probably past cases of this type already ruled in favor of officer vs. dog. If that's the case, I feel sure they'll be brought up should these cases go to civil court.
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Link me YOUR experiences, please.