The transfer of my site to self-hosted is complete. I am glad because I really wanted to join up with Blog The Change For Animals this time around. I guess I am getting in just under the wire. 🙂
I rarely get involved in “political” commentary on the blog. In fact, this is my very first time joining up with Blog The Change. Some recent events in the news have prompted me to write about something that seems to becoming all too common: Family dogs being shot and killed while in their own homes and yards by law enforcement officers.
Do you know the story of Candy Middleton? Candy Middleton was a 3 year old working Blue Heeler who was shot in the back of the head by a Texas sheriff’s deputy while on her own property. This past April, Candy’s owner called the sheriff’s department because his farm house had been broken into and he needed to make a police report. It took 2 hours to dispatch a deputy and by then the farmer had returned to working his farm. Candy was napping in the bed of her owner’s pick-up truck as she often did when she was not helping to work the farm. When the deputy arrived, Candy got out of the truck to bark at the strange vehicle. Her owner reports that he was less than 40 yards away attempting to intercept the deputy when he shot Candy in the back of the head. Read more about what happened to Candy Middleton here.
Then there is Geist. Geist was a Weimaraner who was shot in his own fenced backyard in June by a Salt Lake City police officer who had entered the yard searching for a lost toddler. The toddler was found safe at home, but it was too late for Geist who the officer claimed approached him in an aggressive manner after he opened a closed gate and entered the private fenced yard where Geist was just hanging out. Neither Geist, nor his owner had anything to do with the missing child. Read more about what happened to Geist here.
Or what about Willy Pete? Willy Pete was a 6 year old Basset Hound/Beagle mix living in rural West Virginia. Unbeknownst to Willy Pete’s owner, police were searching for a felon near their home last month. At one point police exited some woods near Willy Pete’s house with a police dog. Willy Pete got up off the porch where he had been napping, started barking and heading toward the officers and police dog. The police shot at him but missed. Willy Pete’s owner reports that Willy Pete then tried to head back to where his owner was standing, but police fired three more shots and killed him. All police would say was that they could not let the dogs fight. Read more about what happened to Willy Pete here.
I could share more stories, but I think you get the idea.
Let me make it clear that I understand that law enforcement officers have a difficult job. Often they need to deal with the worst of the worst. They need to make split second decisions that can also be life or death decisions. It is not a job for everyone.
But at the same time, they serve the community they police. I see a disturbing trend and it needs to be addressed. Owners of family pets should not have to live in fear that their beloved family member might be shot just because they happened to come in contact with a law enforcement officer, especially if they are on their own property.
These were not strays off wandering the neighborhood. They were at home doing nothing wrong. I do not think it is a stretch to assume that any dog might bark at a stranger entering their property. I can imagine my own dogs behaving in the same way that Candy or Geist or Willy Pete behaved. Dogs can be protective of their people, places and things. Protective, not aggressive. There is a difference, but perhaps these officers were not properly trained on how to spot the difference?
In the case of Candy Middleton, that deputy has been terminated and is facing animal cruelty charges. In the other two cases, an “investigation” is ongoing, but it appears that based on some of the public comments, those departments have already determined that the shootings were justified. (I am purposefully avoiding the topic of whether the police were justified in entering some of these properties because that is a whole other topic. )
Whether the shootings were or were not justified in the eyes of those departments, what about the next Candy, or Geist, or Willy Pete?
An easy answer would be retraining to help officers diffuse the situation like countless mail carriers and UPS/Fed X drivers have had to do over the years. Maybe they could use a less lethal method of force? Unfortunately, based on some of the public comments these departments have made, retraining does not seem like a high priority.
But there are departments who are attempting to tackle this issue with training aimed at helping officers deal with the dogs they may encounter, even aggressive strays. The Richmond VA police department is partnering with the SPCA to offer classes to new recruits at the police academy. The Dallas TX police department is training their officers in a variety of methods to deal with aggressive dogs. I am sure there are more. I applaud them.
I hope that more departments will add this sort of training for both new recruits and seasoned officers.
If you haven’t done so already, maybe you could “like” Candy, Geist, and Willy Pete’s FB pages to help spread the word. You can get to them by clicking their names.
Testing comments.
This subject has been on my mind so much lately and it’s terrifying. It’s one of the reasons why all my gates have locks on them. Sure, someone can still cut them or jump the fence but they can not freely walk into my yard. My dogs will bark if a stranger enters or approaches the yard and I wouldn’t want it any other way.Great post.
Great post. I fear the day anyone gets into our yard who shouldn’t be there. Bella in particular would defend and protect her home and family. Beary would surely join in. There seem to be a growing number of cases where kids are hurt by dogs – who are safe and secure in their own yards, minding their own business – the kids have jumped fences to search for lost friends or toys, and the dogs are PTS.
Great post and one that I’m sorry has to be written in the first place. But it’s a growing concern for those of us with dogs.
It really is startling seeing all the new stories, especially with all the dogs being shot lately. It’s actually made me worry about what would happen when someone new or ‘threatening’ to our dog enters our yard; she can be protective.
It’s also sadly made me realize that I’ll probably never own a pit or pit mix given all the extra difficulties in dealing with breed specific bans in my area. If something ever were to happen I fear I wouldn’t be able to defend anything If i owned one.
Congrats on getting your transfer to self-hosted done! I haven’t had the time or inclination to deal with it on my own blog. Too many other, more important, things to do. Great post! I’m not worried about our police so much as I am about our one neighbor — that’s why hubby or I ALWAYS go out in the yard with them (or insist that the sitter does so).
Your blog gave me chills! We have two Chessies and they bark to protect their yard and me their owner! They do sound and look pretty vicious but are sweet babies! Our yard is fenced as well but when we’re gone for long periods they stay inside in their kennels!
Excellent post. I agree with every point you make. It’s completely unrealistic to expect a dog to lie down quietly while strangers approach while in their own yards. In fact, many people (like me) feel safer knowing their dog will alert them to the presence of strangers. Law enforcement should be trained and those who ignore their training and harm a pet on its own property should be disciplined or even terminated.
Your new site looks great! I hope that more law enforcement officers will get better training in dealing with aggressive dogs. I followed Candy, Geist and Willy Pete’s fb pages. Thanks for directing us there!
I’m glad everything went smoothly with your changeover!!
These stories just brought tears to my eyes, and frankly, they scare me too. Our dogs bark at anyone that comes into our driveway. The yard is fenced in, but there’s nothing to stop anyone from going into the fenced in area, and even though I know my dogs aren’t aggressive, they can put up a show of being that way! They are good watch dogs.
Police depts. really do need to start training their officers to understand dogs better. I am going to like those FB pages and try to spread the word.
I have liked all three Facebook pages. This is a national emergency! Our neighbor had his precious Boxer shot & killed when an officer came to his door and the dog ran outside. A crazy neighbor had reported our friend for having his truck parked in his own yard. The Boxer wouldn’t hurt a flea, he just ran out the opened front door. No action was taken by the police department…another “justified” killing. I hold both of our dogs when we answer the door for anyone and we go outside with them in our fenced backyard. (This is because of our neighbor’s unruly kids) I have told my husband that if the police were to shot my babies, they’d better tell them to throw me to ground and handcuff me. I would go completely stupid on them. My heart breaks for these people who lost their dogs to a senseless murder. Thanks for writing this post.
Hi Y’all!
These happenings are heartbreaking, heart-wrenching even for the reader…Can’t imagine the horror and pain the families of these dogs are feeling. Scariest of all is that in two of the reported cases the owners were present to control the situation and Candy was a highly trained working dog. The owners were ignored and never given a chance to control the dog. Worse, a wife, mother and her sleeping children were put at risk as officers fired shots at a fleeing dog.
There are many good police officers, but many others don’t know how to handle the authority they are given when they get that badge. Some revisions or additions to police training are needed beyond the physical training.
BrownDog’s Human
great post! I would hope that would never happen to my animals.
Those stories made my stomach turn. In our county, dogs are not deemed aggressive for even biting when they are on their own property. Dogs defend what is theirs. Shooting dogs in the back of the head? Unacceptable and cowardly. Thank you for helping raise awareness.
Very tragic. I couldn’t even imagine how terrible I would feel if someone did something like that to one of my dogs. I read a story recently with a happy ending, but now I can’t find it. If I remember right, the dog was a pit bull. Neighbors had called police about a vicious dog. An officer went out and realized right away that the dog wasn’t vicious at all, very friendly in fact. And so the dog was rescued.
Unfortunately, most people don’t know dogs as well as we do. I could talk until I’m blue in the face about how friendly Maya is. But some people simply won’t take my word for it and remain terrified. (I respect their fears, by the way, and keep Maya away from them.) I have no doubt that there are a number of police officers out there who love dogs, just like there are a number out there who don’t understand them and assume all behaviors are vicious and a dog could turn on them at any moment. It would take a lot of training to allay those kinds of fears.
Congrats on the new website format right away. I’ve been meaning to make the same change.
We live in a rural area and because of my blogging we get strangers coming to our property all the time (UPS, postman, Fedex) and we had one person leave us a note about our dangerous dogs (who are in a fenced yard) and that frightened me – what if they called the police, because they feared our dogs? I’ve had someone else call the police on us and say that we had violent pit bulls (he was nearly charged for filing a false police report).
Stories like these make me so angry, because I live with a cop; he’s my best friend and love of my life. He’s a big dog lover and so are all of his colleagues. I’m rambling, because this is so sad, disturbing, and I just don’t get why this keeps happening, but I hope it never happens here. I hope it never happens again.
Thanks for the post, the word needs to get out. Law enforcement has shot several dogs in owner’s yards over the past couple of years, one was a “vicious” therapy/service Lab shot in Filer, Idaho. I wonder if law enforcement officers need to have dog training as part of their training program?
So sad. 🙁