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Photo I took maybe a minute before he preceded to pick up the dog, throw it down the stairs and shoot it. It was by far the most disturbing thing I have ever seen in my life. Click here for that photo.DCist is reporting that the police have shot and killed a dog in Adams Morgan. The shooting occurred during the Adams Morgan Day Festival when a poodle and rottweiler (some reports say it was a pitbull) started attacking each other. Apparently, after the poodle and rottweiler were restrained by both bystanders and the dogs' owners, the police ordered the rottweiler (or pitbull) released and then shot it.
The shooting took place on the 2300 block of 18th Street, NW. Some reports are characterizing the shooting as a "execution" because the dog was already restrained.
Here is how one eye witness reported in incident on DCist:
I was less than 20 feet away when it happened. larger dog bit this small white dog on the paw and wouldn't let go and it took the two owners a while to wrestle them apart. Afterwards as the owner of the larger dog that seemed to be doing the biting was holding his dog down the police came. The cops wrestled the dog down in to the stepwell in front of the brass knob and the one of them pulled out his gun and shot it.The police are conducing an investigation and eye witness reports are still coming in.
WTF? are you serious??? what gives the cops the right? I do not like aggressive dogs nor to I care for owners who do not have their dogs under control if they do have aggressive dogs... but cops do not have the right to go about it this way. I am so tired of DC cops who are abusing power, harassing good citizens and throwing their weight around.
ReplyDeleteI have read stories like this one from other places; don't hold your breath for any accountability. There never is.
ReplyDeleteIn DC there is a legal procedure and due process for determining whether a dog is dangerous, and if the dog hasn't killed another animal or seriously injured a person death is not the legal penalty. But as I said, don't expect any accountability. With dogs, the police everywhere seem to have an unwritten rule to shoot first and shrug their shoulders later.
I agree. I was pulled over by a 'policeman' the other week, and w/in 30 SECONDS he told me I was going to jail. I've never been in trouble in my life, and it was for expired registration. I was shocked, and he kept repeating it over and over.
ReplyDeleteI was crying and now I see why people are disgusted with the police. I'm pretty disgusted, too. I felt since I treated him with respect, I'd get it back. NOOOOOOO. I really felt like he was a Jackboot SS guy, he was so mean and nasty.
I do fear for our country. I'm 53, and 30 years ago police never treated me like that for a traffic offense. It really was scary. I know they have a hard job, but come on. . .
Come one people. If your dog is dangerous enough to attack another dog where there are lots of people around it deserves to be shot. Sorry. And I love dogs.
ReplyDeleteCan someone please censure the fourth comment down, or at least recommend that this person pull their head out of their ass?
ReplyDeleteI think we need to wait to pass judgement (unless you watched the whole incident happen in front of you) until the police report is complete and released...too much rumor and speculation folks.
ReplyDeleteThe officer is an SOD K-9 officer, yes his best friend & partner is a dog!! The officer is a decorated dog handler and was possibly the most trained person out there to handle this situation.
ReplyDeleteSo if the officer is a trained SOD K-9 officer, it gives him the right to be judge, jury & executioner? Even though he's a dog, I believe he has the right to due process.
ReplyDeleteOnce we give a single person the right to be the above, that's complete fascism. Think, do you want a Judge Dredd society (think that's the Sylvester Stallone movie)? I certainly don't.
I don't want to be part of a society based on a Sylvester Stallone movie (Unless its Rambo 2 or 3). Apologies to any Stallone fans out there.
ReplyDeleteSad. At a minimum this cop should be removed from the force and this should be placed in his record so that no other unsuspecting police force rehires him thinking he actually is understood the K9 officer training he undertook. All he understood was that he could use it as an excuse for killing. He's a bad cop ... just like the dog he judged to be a bad dog. Let's not show him any more mercy than he showed the dog. Let's put him on the unemployment rolls.
ReplyDeleteI understand people's outrage over this. But put it in perspective. It's a dog that was attacking another dog. If this was a man attacking another man and the cop shot at the guy no one would care. I don't want to be part of a society where we put animals above humans, but sadly we already are living that. You can molest a child in this country and get less time in jail for hitting a dog.
ReplyDeleteNow if it turns out the cop was in the wrong let him be fired/punished. But what am I saying - it's a dog, of course he will be punished. Should have shot the owner.
Reliable accounts from other sources & witnesses I have read indicate that the poodle started attacking the pit when their leases got crossed.
ReplyDeleteI have also read that the dog was subdued and the 'officer' pulled the owner off the dog and took the stated-above actions into his own hands.
The Washington Post account has been called a downright lie by a lot of people who were there.
This was a family event. I would not want myself or my children to witness such violent behavior, and especially by a supposedly respected authority figure. Just because you're a policeman doesn't make you a good guy (no offense to the officers who are different from this crazy man). You can say, well, that's life; however, I don't condone actions of this violent magnitude because it could have been avoided and no amount of 'that's life' will change my mind about this situation..
It could have been handled a lot differently by the 'officer.'
I am sickened and saddened.
ReplyDeleteIt is a sad situation, and I am sure the last thing a cop, especially a K9 cop, wants to do is shoot a dog.
ReplyDeleteFrom the pictures it was a pitbull, a breed known to attack unprovoked. They are violent, and I personally don't think that breed should be allowed in crowded areas. While I will try not to jump to conclusions, I will tend to believe the cop was doing the right thing, not the pitbull that was attacking another dog and known to be extremely violent.
For starters, the dog was a Sharpei mix, according to his owner in the Wash Post, not that it makes any difference. Secondly, what was an officer doing discharging a firearm in the midst of a crowd of people? Even a ricocheting bullet can kill or maim. The photo makes it clear that there was no imminent threat to human life by the dog.
ReplyDeletePeople need to pay attention to the details as reported by the the people who were there. First, the dog was not a pit bull, it was a shar-pei mix. According to witnesses, the poodle started the fight. The shar-pei had been subdued when the officer threw it over the stair well. The injured dog did as any injured dog would do and made threatening noises and body movements toward the officer who had thrown it -- and that's when the officer shot it. If I have misstated any of these points, there will be a full investigation, and the witnesses will have a chance to repeat the sequence under oath. The police officers will also have a chance to tell it as they saw it, but one thing (shown clearly by the photo of the police office with his full weight on top of the dog, restraining it), is that the dog was incapacitated at that point, and the owner was there to take control of the dog. The owner says he was "knocked aside." It's hard to see why the officer would shoot an animal under those circumstances.
ReplyDeleteThe Post noted that the officer is a 25-year veteran of the police force. In most cities that would suggest that the senior officer presumably has a lot of judgment and sober experience, but not necessarily in Washington, DC. 25 years means that he was hired during the 1980s heyday of Mayor Marion Barry, when the DC police routinely took on recruits who had failed the police exam multiple times. (Barry's police security detail also infamously aided and abetted his checkered conduct, but that's another story.) Unfortunately the group of officers who joined the force during the Barry years have disproportionately been the subject of complaints involving excessive force, brutality and other misconduct. The quality of police recruits started to improve in the 1990s, a trend that accelerated under Tony Williams. This is not to say that all recruits hired during the Barry era of the 1980s are sub-par officers -- many are excellent, but a disproportionate share have been problems.
ReplyDeleteWhy were dogs at the Adams Morgan Day festival? I have two dogs and do NOT take them into large crowds for various reasons. It is not fair to the dog to be trampled just because they are not tall and people don't see them. Why did the Rescue group give a foster dog to someone who would take the dog into a large crowd? This does not address what appears to be an over zealous cop who discharged a gun in the middle of a large crowd, but I think the "owner" was at fault for having the dog there.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone considered the danger to himself and the public that the officer caused by discharging his firearm? That is a very serious issue.
ReplyDelete