December 31, 2016

Court Rules It Was Reasonable For Cop To Shoot Dog For Barking

Source: Huffington Post

12/22/2016
"A federal appeals court has sided with police officers who fatally shot two dogs during a drug raid, even though officers testified that one of the dogs was merely barking and “just standing there.”

Mark and Cheryl Brown of Battle Creek, Michigan, first brought a lawsuit against the City of Battle Creek, the city’s police department and three officers in 2015, the Battle Creek Enquirer reports. A drug raid gone awry had resulted in their two dogs being killed two years prior.

(snip)

Klein said the first dog continued barking aggressively and “lunged” at him when he went inside, although he specified the “lunge” only involved the dog moving “a few inches.” At that point, he shot and wounded the dog. Both dogs then retreated into the basement. The officers then entered the basement in order to “sweep” the place for drugs and possible other suspects. When the wounded dog at the bottom of the stairs began barking again, Klein shot and killed her.

At this point, the second dog was standing in the middle of the basement. Klein testified that she started barking while standing still and facing away from the officers. He fired two shots at her, and she ran to the basement’s back corner. Officer Damon Young said he shot the dog when she started “moving” away from the corner and toward him. The dog ran behind a furnace, at which point Officer Jeffrey Case fatally shot her. He said didn’t want to see her continue to suffer and that there was “blood coming out of numerous holes” in her body."




Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/court-rules-it-was-reasonable-for-cop-to-shoot-dog-for-barking_us_585c4bc9e4b0eb586485d619

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This is insane. I have two big Great Pyrenees, and their job is to bark and let me know someone is around. These two dogs in Michigan were executed because strangers burst in their front door with a battering ram, and got barked at.