APD Clears Officer For Shooting Family Dog

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/22074689/detail.html

Officer Feared For His Safety, Family Claims Officer Changed Story


By Harry Samler, CBS Atlanta Reporter

POSTED: 5:21 pm EST December 28, 2009
UPDATED: 6:24 pm EST December 28, 2009

ATLANTA -- An Atlanta police officer under investigation for shooting a family's dog has been cleared of any wrongdoing.

Officer Lucas Wagaman shot and killed the 2-year-old lab mix named Ciarra while investigating a burglar alarm. The shooting happened last July on Howard Street in Atlanta's Kirkwood neighborhood.

Wagaman told investigators that when he arrived at the scene, he was met by the family's pet sitter. The sitter told the officer that it was a false alarm, but officer Wagaman decided to check the back yard

While the officer was in the back yard, the family's two dogs slipped out the back door past the pet sitter. The officer told investigators that one of the dogs charged him barring his teeth with its tail down. Officer Wagaman shot the dog twice, killing it.

From the beginning of the investigation, the dog's owner Elizabeth Feichter, disputed the officer's story.

"My dogs have no tails." Feichter says, "It feels like the city is hiding something and purposely covering up something."

[MadMaddie]

1. If the dog sitter said it was a false alarm then the officer

should have left. That should have been the end of the story. He knew there were dogs there because...geesh she is a dog sitter. WTF?

Why did he go in the backyard? He could have checked the side of the house, no need to go in the yard.

[nosmokes]

2. HEY! he's the pig. he's got the gun and the badge. He don't hafta listen to

no measly ass citizen.

[roguevalley]

3. that dog was in his yard guarding. he could have backed out and

he could have waved it off. I'd be pissed royal too. :(

[RumJungle]

8. Yeah..

.. he's a pig man!! Right on.... No way the sitter could have been under duress or anything like that right?

[nosmokes]

11. he shot a family pet. yeah, he's a pig. he had other options.

[Angleae]

4. How would he know if the dog sitter was legit?

What if it was a burglar claiming to be a "dog sitter". It's not as someone else was there to back her story up.

[Violet_Crumble]

5. Is it legal to dock dogs tails in the US?

It sounds like those dogs had docked tails. It's a really cruel and barbaric custom that's been outlawed here coz it's so cruel to the dogs to do it....

[dysfunctional press]

6. i'm not familiar with the term 'docked'...but plenty of dogs have their tails(and ears) 'bobbed'.

boxers and dobermans especially, it often seems.

and yes, it's quite legal to do so in the u.s.

[Violet_Crumble]

7. I think docked = bobbed...

It'll be interesting to see if the US ever follows the lead here, where it's been illegal for around 5 years now and people who do it and get caught are charged with cruelty to animals....

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

10. As been commented, it is legal here, yet I've noticed more boxers lately without the cropped

ears, but still seem to have docked tails.

I grew up with a boxer with cropped ears and a docked tail. This was decades ago. It didn't seem to have any affect on how wonderful of a dog she was. She was as good as any dog could get.

[surrealAmerican]

9. It's legal, but very unusual for a mixed-breed.

Perhaps the tail had been removed following some sort of injury.