Police Shock Dog With Taser Gun; Incident Caught On Tape

[OhioChick]

11:08 pm EDT July 27, 2009

LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- A dog on the loose in Lakewood was shocked with a Taser gun by a police officer, and the incident was caught on tape.

The video was captured by a camera mounted on the Taser gun. Police said the stray dog they shocked on Saturday was a pit bull that was a threat to others.

After the dog disobeyed an order to go home, the camera on the officer's Taser was obscured.

The camera shows the officer using the Taser to disable the dog until an animal control officer could ensnare its neck.

But seconds after the officer determined the dog was under control, it tried to hop to its feet.

The obstruction reappears and the dog was shocked again. This time it didn't move and was dragged away.

"They knocked on my door and told me that they Tased my dog and I just freaked out," said owner Dan Kier.

Kier says his dog, Otis, got out of the house while he was sleeping. Kier also said Otis is not a pit bull, but a 1 1/2 –year-old boxer.

"He's not an aggressive dog, never has been an aggressive dog, and, based on what I saw on the video, I don't think he was being aggressive at all," said Kier.

Christina MacDonald and Kristine Charkowski witnessed the incident. They said Otis wasn't aggressive but scared. The two women are professional dog watchers trained to spot aggressive behavior.

"That's all the dog was doing was barking. Never charged at the officer, as a matter of fact, he ran away at one point in time," Charkowski said.

Lakewood police familiar with the incident were unavailable for comment.

The dog's owner was issued citations for keeping dangerous animals but he hopes a blood test will prove Otis is a boxer.

Otis remains in the custody of animal control.

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/20197114/detail.html

[BlooInBloo]

1. Hmmm - Animal or cop? Which will DUers side with?

We already know DUers won't side with PEOPLE over a cop. This one might be a closer call.

[Buzz Clik]

8. Context is everything....

[joeybee12]

9. Yeah well when you got witnesses and the whole thing on camera...

...stop trying to imply animal lovers racist...that sickens me.

[shanti]

30. not just on camera

they HID it from the camera!

[Raineyb]

23. Too true.

I think I'm going to need popcorn.

:popcorn:

[Buzz Clik]

31. Dog wins! Dog wins!

Forget leash laws. Forget owner responsibility. The cop was wrong.

As you predicted, this says much about DU.

[Mythsaje]

41. If a civilian tased a POLICE dog, which we KNOW can be aggressive,

he'd be looking at prison, leash law or not.

[Buzz Clik]

45. You think that if a police dog was running around a neighborhood unrestrained...

... with no owner in sight, that tasing the dog would land somebody in prison?

I have no doubt that some cops might try to exert their authority to land hard on the person who tased the dog, but it would get nowhere.

[MisterP]

2. they're running blood tests on the dog? are they looking for the mytical "evil" gene pits have? n/t

[WI_DEM]

19. No the story says the owner is running blood tests to prove that the dog is a boxer not pit

[Buzz Clik]

25. Interesting. That will come in handy the next time the dog gets loose and starts acting aggressively

The person being snarled at will simply ask the dog for his DNA report, and then can decide if it's okay to be afraid or not.

[northernlights]

28. the dog was not acting aggressively

According to professionals who viewed the tape.

He barked.
He disobeyed an order to "go home"
And he ran away.

Guess what? My love of a dog barks at strange passersby.
When they disobey *his* orders to get off his property, he disobeys orders their orders for him to go home...since he already *is* home.

That's not being aggressive. That's being a dog.

And if any cop tased my dog, who has never bitten anybody although he did threaten a stranger lurking in the bushes across the street one night, I'd be the one in jail. :grr:

[The Doctor.]

35. Not very well acquainted with many breeds, are you?

Boxers are notoriously loyal, but not aggressive unless the owner is under threat.

They tend to be very friendly. People should make an effort to learn how to determine whether a dog is behaving aggressively or not. It's not very hard to learn. a hundred-thousand years of evolution have pretty much made the signs obvious.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

37. I grew up with a Boxer and there can't have ever been a better dog in the world than she was.

She was intelligent, sweet, affectionate, friendly, loyal and protective of our family. She wouldn't attack but stood her ground if anyone tried to get into the house that didn't belong there. She was the family dog before I was born and she would lay by my crib, protecting me. After she died at 13 I developed allergies for most breeds and couldn't have another Boxer but if I didn't have that problem, I would have had another Boxer in a heartbeat.

[Buzz Clik]

38. Would it be okay if, every time I had a question about dogs, I asked you?

I've never known a true expert before.

(I feel so tingly)

[The Doctor.]

39. Oh... mercy me!

:blush:

I'm SO honored!

Please, understand that all I've ever done is raise and train German Shepherds... I'm not a Veterinarian.

A breeder.

A zoologist.

A Canine Shaman.

A Dog myself (though I've been called as much)

Or even Anubis himself.


But if I could impart some small experience to you, oh seeker of great things, I would be honored in every way!

I just feel so... unworthy!

Oh thank you for bestowing such an honor!

;)

[Mythsaje]

3. "Lakewood police familiar with the incident were unavailable for comment."

Surprise, surprise.

If it was a police dog, it would be "assaulting an officer."

Nice.

So the guy "hopes" a blood test will prove Otis is a boxer. I take it that this means Lakewood has a thing about pits. Stupid breed bans.

[LiberalFighter]

36. Police must be dumbing down

[leftyladyfrommo]

4. It's a lot better than just shooting them on site.

None of the boxers I take care of are the least bit aggressive. But I can see where someone might think they are pitbulls if they really didn't know much.

[Mythsaje]

5. Cops not know much?

Is the pope Catholic?

[leftyladyfrommo]

6. Pit bulls have caused all kinds of problems here.

Our neighborhoods are just getting overrun with them. And you can't tell by looking which ones are dog aggressive or people aggressive. I used to walk my dogs but I never do now. I'm afraid to. Not worth the risk.

[Buzz Clik]

26. I'm sorry. Are you reacting to this in a rational fashion?

Ma'am, you will have to leave this thread.

[Lerkfish]

10. "on sight". sorry, pet peeve of mine.

[Buzz Clik]

7. Hey, shithead! Keep your dog on a leash!

[MindPilot]

13. the dog got out of the house while the owner was asleep.

Hell my dogs have slipped out of the yard while I simply had my back turned. One of them can work the latch on the gate and if I don't keep it locked, they will take themselves for a walk.

No need to call the dog owner names.

[Buzz Clik]

24. Sorry. Next time I'll bleep the naughty words.

I own a dog. I keep it under control, but, as you say, dogs can get away.

When a dog is loose, the fate of the dog is up in the air. The only way we control our dog's fate is to keep it at home or on a leash.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

16. Hmmmm this morning there was a fluffy white dog loose in front of my house. I had no idea

who it belonged to and the dog being a friendly little guy let me check out his tag. I called the owner who picked him up right away. The dog ran out and the owner didn't realize it when it happened. This does happen and you don't have to be a shithead when it does.

[Buzz Clik]

21. Fluffy white dog? No, this is a fluffy white dog:

This is a well known killing machine:




Keep your dog on a leash.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

34. Cute, but a diversion from my point. Anyone's dog can get out of the house by mistake.

And I'm surprised that animal control can't tell the difference between a Boxer and Pit.


I had a Boxer while I was growing up and she was the greatest companion.

[Blue Diadem]

11. I want to know why the camera was blocked.

I also want to know why they felt a 2nd tasing was necessary when the dog already had that animal control device around it's neck.

It also appears the dog was alerting and backing away but with the camera being covered, it's hard to tell what happened.

edited to add that I googled white boxer images. The dog does appear to be a boxer.

[cloudbase]

12. After the dog disobeyed an order to go home, the camera on the officer's Taser was obscured.

If that dog would have shown the officer some respect, none of this would have happened.

[MindPilot]

14. that was my first thought too.

The dog disobeyed the "lawful instructions" of a police officer. Jeez, when are animals going to learn that just because you are a different species, you are not above the law; comply with the officer's demands.

[Occulus]

15. "After the dog disobeyed an order to go home,"

:wow:

Yes, officer, by all means, order animals around. Good God, what a sad and sorry waste of 206 perfectly good human bones this cop is....

[MindPilot]

20. I wonder if the officer was screaming "stop resisting!"

like they do on COPS?

[hadrons]

18. I think the cop watched too many Lassie episodes ....

Just because Timmy and his family could decipher Lassie's bark it doesn't mean they were having a conversation with her.

[Buzz Clik]

22. LOL!

That's funny, but have you ever been bitten by a dog? Have it draw blood?

[Maru Kitteh]

29. Otis is an ESL student.

English second language.

"Go Home" was on next semester's curriculum.

[Buzz Clik]

32. Well, he did learn a big lesson today -- in any language.

Not sure how the dog will process that lesson, however.

[Mythsaje]

40. People in uniform suck?

Yeah... My jindo has that impression as well.

[Buzz Clik]

46. That's probably the best that any dog could do.

[tblue37]

17. Poor thing was probably traumatized. An experience like that can screw up an

animal's whole personality and behavior.

[Maru Kitteh]

27. So they tased poor Otis because he doesn't speak English and his human was neglectful

Sometimes I wonder what the hell dogs see in us.

[Cali_Democrat]

33. Poor doggie

:(

[Ignis]

42. Those cops shouldn't be allowed to play for the NFL!

:spank:

[downeyr]

43. As long as more people are being the cops' cop...

I'm fucking great with all this exposure on the police!

[JonLP24]

44. I have a feeling this thread would be much different if it was actually a "pit bull"

A lot of people don't know that "pit bull" is a media umbrella term that is used to describe several breeds that belong to the Molosser family. A boxer is apart of the Molosser family which includes breeds such as American Pit Bull Terrier(my dog), Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Boston Terrier, Banter Bulldogge, etc. So that right there can explain why the cop thought what he did because there is very common misconseptions about what a "pit bull" is. But since it's established that it is a boxer then of course it is a loving companion dog. Well I got anedoctal evidence of my own that my APBT is a loving companion dog that is highly intelligent. In fact they score higher then most breeds in obedient tests. http://www.atts.org/stats1.html

Also realize that Stewart have Pit Bulls as pets and he is very respected around here.http://www.jonstewart.net/bio/index.html Also many well known people as well as DUers have them as pets and we don't have any problems out of the ordinary we'd expect from any other breed.