Stop Law Enforcement From Shooting Dogs

These police departments have left a trail of heartbroken, grieving and angry people in their wake. The reason for the shootings? One officer said it well when he was speaking of a dog he just shot, “they are in the way”. That is precisely what is happening. The dog is in the way of their pursuit of someone or in their police work.

When cops take the risk of going in backyards, they must know that it would be a natural response for a dog to bark or growl at an intruder. But instead of knocking on the door so the owner can get the dog inside or instead of knowing how to encounter a dog who is obviously protecting his/her property, the dog is shot to simply get the dog out of the way. In most incidences where the cop calls a dog aggressive and the dog never showed aggressive tendencies before or those outside the family are saying the dog is not aggressive, the cop is making a bad call and kills the dog because they don’t understand dog behavior.

There have been witnesses who tell one version of a shooting incident saying the dog was not being aggressive and yet the cop is saying the dog was aggressive. really?!! Dash cams, and video have proven the false statements of officers who say the dog was being aggressive and yet they are dismissed of any wrong doing. Some dogs lay dying while the officer pumps more bullets into the wounded dog, making sure he/she is dead. Isn’t the use of a gun supposed to be the last resort and yet time and time again it is the first response? Aren’t they only supposed to remove a threat? If that is true why are they continuing their assault on a dog who is obviously not moving and in one case the dog was wagging her tail when the officer shot the fatal shot. On many incidences the officer will not allow the grieving owner to go to his/ her dog after the dog has been shot. This is outrageous.

If the dog had been taken to a vet that dog would have survived. Not only that, but to see your family member lying there in pain dying and you can’t comfort them is tormenting and is the misuse of power and authority by the officer. This kind of police brutality and bullying has gone too far and it is “police bullying.” The citizens of the United States are angry and disgusted that nothing is being done to stop this epidemic of bad cops who target innocent dogs because they don’t understand dog behavior or because they have an unhealthy fear of dogs.

Instead, cops who do such a cruel act on innocent dogs are not disciplined and remain on the job even though they have committed a criminal offense of animal cruelty.

We want justice. We want this to stop. Dogs are our family members and if we have to be afraid that a cop will go into our back yard or into our homes and even when our dog has been on leashes and they shoot our dogs, then more and more people will fear calling the police and will take matters into their own hands. In a handful of police stations across America they are implementing police and dog encounter training. This is a start although the training is still not completely adequately long enough to ensure solid training .

We are asking that training for any kind of dog encounter be mandatory throughout every state and in every police department. It once was known and accepted as normal dog behavior when dogs protected their property and barked or growled at intruders; now they were not shot. What happened? why this incline in police animal cruelty?

We are also asking that the police use tranquilizers to put the dog to sleep temporarily so it can be returned to the family not shot and killed as these are our family pets, we don't kill wild animals they are tranquilized and transported back to where they come from, why can't we do the same for our family pets/dogs.

Stop Law Enforcement From Shooting Dogs!