dog shot by police officer brought into my vet

[boxerprincess]

I had Mac at the vet (again!) today. While we were waiting a beautiful German Shepherd was brought in by its owner and animal control with a gunshot wound. I was shocked.

I was more shocked when I found out the circumstances.

The alarm had gone off at the dog owners house and the police responded. The dog was in the backyard at the time. The officer had to jump the back (6 ft cement block) fence in order to get into the back yard. The dog came around from the backyard to the side of the house and in a panic the officer shot it. The owner asked and the officer admitted that the dog had not growled, had not attacked and had not made any moves towards the officer.

The dog is going to live, but will require MAJOR reconstructive surgery to his mouth and jaw as the bullet shattered his jaw.

I live just a few blocks away from this owner. I occassionally leave Princess out in the backyard alone and can't imagine what I would do if I got a call informing me that my dog had been shot - IN MY OWN BACKYARD.

SO. I called every media outlet in Phoenix. They seem to love covering stories about so called 'bad dogs' - so lets hope they'll cover a story where they dog was absolutely not the bad guy.

 

[cfhtlhii]

:eek:
That is terrible! Is the cop going to have to pay for the error or possibly the city pay?

Connie

 

[myrocky]

Okies all I am going to keep this thread because so far all is well. I DO NOT want this thread to turn into a cop bashing thread. What happened was unfortunate, however if this thread seems to move in the slightest way towards just blaming and pointing fingers at cops it will be trashed. Keep it clean and calm and all will continue to be well:D

 

[leenasmom]

That is so sad for this dog and his owners. I can't imagine how I would feel, but police face danger every time they turn around. He was probably just shocked, and reacted. I hope the dog will be okay.

 

[matilda8255]

I am so sorry for this dog and the owners. Being that I live in Scottsdale I will think twice about leaving my dogs outside unwatched. I'm sure the police man feels just horrible. What a shame.

 

[Eric J]

I of course feel sorry for the poor dog and the owner, but to be honest, I feel bad for the cop. He had a moment of bad judgement, and I bet he is not feeling to good about this also. Hopefully this will help take a rough edge of a cop so he has learned how to do his job safer in the future for everyone, including himself. I know if I was in his shoes, I would be very upset over this matter also.

 

[None-removed]

Originally posted by Eric J
He had a moment of bad judgement, and I bet he is not feeling to good about this also.

I agree and disagree. You make a good point that the officer probably feels awful, but I stop short of calling it bad judgement, fear is probably more accurate. There are a ton of variables, and since none of us were there to make an objective judgement it's probably best to consider it a horrible accident with three victims. Speaking from the perspective of a former law enforcement officer - I can't say that I wouldn't have done the same thing as pure, raw adrenaline driven reaction to the fear of being rushed by a potentially very dangerous dog protecting his territory.

 

[Eric J]

Good point Cubby, bad judgement might not have been part of it at all. I just hope the dog ends up healthy and happy again, and everyone else involved finds peace with this.

 

[None-removed]

I totally agree there! We'll say a special prayer for all of them.

 

[kala]

This is such a sad thing to happen. My dogs have a dog door so they are in and out when I'm gone. What part of Phoenix was this in? I live in central Phoenix and haven't seen it on TV. I feel so bad for the family and the dog, but since I've never been in the situation that the policeman was in I don't know what my first reaction would be. :confused: I hope the police force is going to help with the vet bills at least.
sue
scierra (rescue Rott)
sadie mae (rescue Dobe)
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