Cop goes to wrong house, shoots owners dog.

[Natasha_LB]

This is disgusting!!!

Here in the UK our police don't carry firearms, you know why? Because our cops aren't cowards. If a cop ever shot someone's dog like that over here, they would be straight in the lock up! Why did the officer walk in with his weapon drawn? Why did he open fire within seconds of entering the house? Had he never seen a dog before? Dog are friendly animals, they like to bark and often jump up at visitors, its very common behaviour, and no reason to open fire.

The officer involved should be prosecuted and spend a few months in prison, when he's released he should never be allowed to serve in a position of power again, he is clearly not the right kind of individual for the job. He should be disgusted with himself, what he did, is plain wrong there is no way to defend his actions.

 

[Dags90]

This is disgusting!!!

Here in the UK our police don't carry firearms, you know why? Because our cops aren't cowards. If a cop ever shot someone's dog like that over here, they would be straight in the lock up! Why did the officer walk in with his weapon drawn? Why did he open fire within seconds of entering the house? Had he never seen a dog before? Dog are friendly animals, they like to bark and often jump up at visitors, its very common behaviour, and no reason to open fire.

The officer involved should be prosecuted and spend a few months in prison, when he's released he should never be allowed to serve in a position of power again, he is clearly not the right kind of individual for the job. He should be disgusted with himself, what he did, is plain wrong there is no way to defend his actions.

Dogs are as varied as their owners. Some dogs are mean, nasty creatures. Others are intensely loyal and protective of their families. Both of these can pose potentially lethal risks to police offers.

35% of Texas residents own a gun.[footnote]http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/health/interactives/guns/ownership.html[/footnote] If your police were facing the same rate of gun ownership, you could bet the stab-proof vests they wear that they'd be armed, too.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Further details (and text article, and what appears to be an unedited dashcam video): http://kutnews.org/post/details-emerge-police-shooting-cisco-pet-dog?nopop=1

Okay so, first thing the cop does is order the man to put his hands up. What caused him to issue this order? Did Paxton appear to be a threat?

Then, in conflict with his first order, he tells the man "get your dog." However, he shoots the dog less than a second afterward, right after saying "dog."

Did he not see the dog at first? This would explain the conflicting orders. The dog must've been rushing toward the officer, otherwise there would've been more time between the order to restrain the mutt and the shooting.

Now put yourself into the officer's shoes: you're confronting a man you don't know, and a dog you don't know, and the dog is rushing toward you. The man, for all you know, just finished beating up his girlfriend. The dog, you know nothing about, it could even be a fighting dog. The dog is barking and running full tilt at you. You have half a second to react.

Even if the dog is friendly, if he jumps on you that's going to be distracting, may even cause you accidentally fire your weapon if you have it drawn (and watching the video further, he did already had it drawn), and would also provide an opening for the man to either escape or attack you. And if the dog isn't friendly, well...

It's tragic, to be sure, but I'm not really sure I can blame the officer.

The officer shouldn't have had his gun drawn in the first place. He was responding to a domestic call about a drunk couple. Pulling out the most lethal means of protection that fast isn't what he was trained for. The cop is to blame for that one. He also tried to change his story up when the other officer showed up, but changed it back when the owner corrected him. The officer gets the blame for that one too.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

He should not have had his weapon drawn on someone who is unarmed and walking out of a different house than the one he received the call for and even accidents have consequences, I know because when I've done something bad by accident I still end up in trouble.

You talk as if he knew that he was walking into the wrong house.

Walking into a domestic violence call doesn't constitute an instant gun drawn situation. They have mace, tasers and clubs for that. Sorry but the point stands, officer shouldn't have had a gun out. That crap is dangerous.

 

[JoJo]

For all the policeman knew that dog could have mauled him, now we know better but I would have done the same in his situation

Dogs only attack if there's a good reason to do so. The officer was never in any danger, not untill he'd physically assault the dog's owner. Protecting pack members is an instinct in many dog breeds.

And get real, dogs don't maul, dogs bark, and rarely dogs bite light to correct, and almost never ever in fucking history to dogs bite to fight. Biting to fight is limited to dogs with a bad character who suffer constant abuse and training to do that, otherwise it will never ever happen. You can walk up on a random dog and start beating and kicking it, and it won't bite, but first retreat back and asses the situation, maybe growl to warn, and if cornered, bite lightly to correct and scare off. Yes, you can be agressive to dogs without them being agressive to you. Great peaceloving animals those.
The worst that can happen if bitten is a little pain, and a slight shallow wound at worst. Big fucking deal. It hardly justifies using a deadly weapon and murdering someone's loved pet. Especially not as he had no reason to be there at all and didn't allow any chance for the dog to be restrained or be sent outside.


If that cop has a phobia of dogs: His problem. Shouldn't have signed up for a job that may require encountering dogs, or at the very least understand what his problem is. The correct course of action would've been to stay away and ask the owner to leash the dog, and then go have a talk.

But no, it had to be done Rambo style...

The bolded part I strongly disagree with from personal experience. My grandparents own a dog from a rescue center which came from a home where it was abused by another dog and trust me this dog will snap at any stranger to the house who dares to go close to it i.e. everyone except my grandparents. It's even worse when being taken for a walk, it has to be kept firmly on a leash at all times because the moment it spots another dog however far away, it'll fly into a hissing rage and try to fight it's way to the other dog. Thankfully in this case it's too small a dog to pose a serious threat to a human and my grandparents take sensible precautions. I know most dogs aren't like that but it shows in a risky situation you can't make assumptions like you did above.

 

[DiamanteGeeza]

OT: Cop should not have had his gun out when he entered the house. Pure and simple. He overreacted, which is irresponsible as an officer of the law.

Its a very good thing you are not in any sort of dangerous profession cause you wouldn't last two days.

Walking into a potentially dangerous situation without being prepared for it is not exactly a survival trait.

Couldn't agree more.

It would be wonderful to see these backseat quarterbacks (that constantly blame the officer involved for 'overreacting' or being a 'psycho looking to kill something') actually in some real-life dangerous situations similar to this one, without any backup, no knowledge of whether the perp has a concealed weapon, and fearing for their life.

Methinks their self-admitted perfection may not be quite so infallible as they seem to suggest.

 

[Skratt]

Tough call. I can't say given the circumstance I would not have also shot the dog if I felt threatened. That being said, my level of faith that the officer was actually threatened and not just a dick who doesn't like dogs it a bit low.

Police are good people but the ones that make mistakes like this are questionable in my opinion.

 

[bobstone]

A person who becomes a cop should not have the I'm right first instinct. in this situation he should of let him self be bitten or whatever and accepted that as a job hazard. hard to explain what I mean but I will try.

If someone chooses to uphold the law, protect the innocent, and apprehend the guilty. that person is also choosing to bear individual rights on his shoulders, a cop should be willing to risk HIMSELF in a mistake, not OTHERS.

it is wrong to have policemen that shoot first and ask later. being a cop is not about gaining the right to use force, it is about making the correct choices and putting your self at risk so the people you are protecting and serving do not have to.

the problem I see with law enforcement is that the greater amount of people that work for them are more concerned with the apprehend the guilty aspect of the job, and not the others parts. it is not their fault, it is the way the world is turning, it is the people who sue cops over stupid things, it is the general hate directed towards offices that make them what they are today...

side note. I always hate having someone apologize for someone else. what do I care if the police chief is sorry. I want to hear the guy who did it give a heart felt apology.

 

[Weaver]

...except that it was the wrong house

This part is irrelevant.

No, it's the different between having a legal warrant to enter a location and breaching someone's basic rights. It was illegal for the police officer to enter that home uninvited, and it was illegal for him to cause harm to any person or pets at that location. If you're going to enter somewhere with the intent of making an arrest, you should at least double check the address.

 

[funguy2121]

http://news.yahoo.com/video/austinkvuetv-15750583/apd-police-chief-apologizes-for-dog-shooting-28985811.html

The officer went in with his weapon already drawn, didn't even let the owner have a chance to calm his dog down.

What do you guys think?

EDIT: The owner could not restrain the dog because he was held at gun point. The owner even told the officer that the dog would not hurt him.

Hate to be Mr. Simplistic Reductivist here, but cops need to have more accountability. This is just a far lesser symptom than others.

Don't know about everyone else, but here in Tejas! many PDs have gone to no-partner patrol cars just to put more cars/arrests/quotas/bonuses out there. This has been exponentially compounded by Barak Walker Obama's war on Time's man on the year, the protestor. Police departments all over the US have been given new weapons and Mossad training and have been pulling people over at alarming rates, without much in the way of provocation.

Ok, I'll step down from my soap box now