Is a Pet Dog Really Killed by a Police Officer Every 98 Minutes?

[damnedifIknow]

*Cops shooting dogs when they arguably don't need to is called "puppycide" by opponents (naturally). Animal rights activists and civil libertarians say these shootings are widespread, a result of officers having little-to-no training on how to deal with dogs."

* But it's not clear how often this kind of thing really happens. There are no state databases, and it's not a category in municipal crime reports. Neither the FBI nor the Bureau of Justice Statistics collect data on dog shootings. The U.S. Postal Service knows exactly how many mail carriers were bitten by dogs in 2012, but no one seems to know how many pet dogs were killed by law enforcement.

Filmmakers Patrick Reasonover and Michael "Oz" Ozias hope to nail down a rough estimate as part of their research for a documentary called Puppycide.

"We’re planning on doing a lot of Freedom of Information Act requests," Reasonover says. "We think it’s happening way more than the statistic we have." That statistic, which sits at the top of Puppycide's kickstarter page: "Every 98 minutes, a dog is shot by law enforcement." Activists came up with that number after tallying accounts of dog-shootings from news stories across the country.

http://www.citylab.com/politics/2013/10/dog-really-killed-police-officer-every-98-minutes/7356/

[Orrex]

1. They should stop killing that poor dog.

[leftyladyfrommo]

2. I worry about this. I have dogs.

When the police are anywhere near my house my dogs are up and in their crates. I don't want any confrontations with the police.

[DefenseLawyer]

3. It's very common

We have an unfortunately high percentage of police officers, particular "drug task force" and SWAT officers, that are far too eager to use force. A dog at the scene of a home invasion bust is often a convenient outlet for that aggression. It's a bad deal for the dogs, obviously, but it's just another symptom of a much bigger problem: the militarization of law enforcement.

[Warpy]

4. Mostly to stop the barking, I would guess

The last thing any high tension negotiation with the cops needs is a dog that won't shut up.

Main thing you need to do with the cops at the door is shut the dog in the bathroom. They can't shoot a dog they don't see.

[damnedifIknow]

5. What about when traveling with your pet?

This happened to me when I got pulled over for speeding by a state trooper. My dog didn't care to have his head out the window time interrupted and was letting it be known vocally. I was more worried about him then getting the ticket.

[Warpy]

6. Tough situation

I've only traveled with them in carriers for cats and a crate for a dog.

[joeglow3]

7. It is a lot easier for one organization to track it versus thousands.