If you managed to keep watching yesterday’s Super Bowl travesty long enough, you’d have seen Budweiser’s top-rated ad featuring a Labrador puppy bonding with a Clydesdale. If that’s the kind of thing that tugs at your heartstrings, this will certainly harsh your mellow. An unidentified Anne Arundel County copper was investigating a burglary report on Saturday when he was “confronted” by Vern, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever, like the one above, in the dog’s own front yard. Two shots later, Vern was nothing but a memory for the Reeves family. baltimoresun.com quotes the heartbroken owner . . .

“I said to him ‘How can I help you, officer?'” Tim Reeves said. “He looked at me and said ‘I unloaded on your dog. Your dog attacked me, and I killed it.'”

The law enforcement community in the gun-grabber utopia that is Maryland have had their problems with notoriously vicious beasts like Chessies and Labs. “In July 2008, a Prince George’s County SWAT team shot and killed two Labrador retrievers during a search of the home of Berwyn Height’s (sic) Mayor Cheye Calvo. Police mistakenly thought his wife was involved in drug trafficking. That case garnered national attention.”

While the county mounties have promised an investigation, we hope the Reeves aren’t holding their collective breath waiting for the outcome. Anyone who follows these things knows they tend to slip down the memory hole, never to be heard from again.  [h/t Andrew H.]

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

161 COMMENTS

    • Everything about this story makes me angry. Cop with one year experience, a dog that had no history of aggression (have you even been around a chessie? Theres a reason families with kids get them), and the f*cktard usage of the term “I unloaded on your dog”.

      • Assclowns like this is why I keep my Bulldog on a leash. Some cretin might mistake him for a pit bull or something.

        • Just a note, that’s not a dig on Pits. They are great (if boisterous) dogs. They just have a bad reputation.

        • Pit mix owner here… thx for the clarification. Yeah, they have been the MSM’s whipping dog for quite an age. Hell, she’s basically a decoy / distraction for her exponentially more aggressive “sister” hound mix! That’s right… pay attention to the big bad pit… ;P

        • My Pit mix was basically a wuss, he never started a fight in his life. If pushed enough, he would respond, but it took a sustained attack to get him to do anything but stand there, confused as to what and why it was happening. Due to what he was mixed with, most people didn’t know what exactly he was. Pits are the current “terror dog”, it used to be Dobermans, Rottweilers, but Pits seem to be stuck with the label permanently. It’s nonsense. In my experience, German Shepherds are a dog I have concerns about.

  3. I never saw it in the local news, but one local community is buzzing with a shooting of two pit bulls–one two months old and the other six months old–by an off duty CHP officer out for a jog–one someone else’s private property. Shoot first, ask questions later. The Sheriff’s Department says it is a CHP matter, and the CHP says it’s a Sheriff’s Office matter, so neither would take a report.

  4. Once Again. the news reporters give NO FRIGGING INFORMATION on what happened other than the cop shot the dog. Was the dog a known badass? Was the dog known to attack or growl offensively at passersby? Is Tim Reeves a known miscreant or drug dealer? Was the dog in question wearing a spiked collar and steel plate armor with blades sticking out of it?

    There is NO WORD of any justification the officer might have had .. maybe this is just selective reporting, meant to make the officer look like a meathead jerk. It would appear to me to be that way on the surface, considering the “Lost down a memory hole” statement, meant to be a snide bot NOT VERY tactful comment.

    Ditching a dog for NO REASON is one thing, but lets have the WHOLE STORY HERE.
    Robert Seddon

    • Did you even bother to read the linked article?

      …The family said the officer wanted to interview a neighbor and was walking across the front yards of homes on the street when the shooting happened. The Reeves family was not involved in the burglary investigation that brought the officer to their neighborhood. Vern barked and ran toward the officer, prompting the shooting, the family said.

      Here’s the whole link for you: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/anne-arundel/pasadena/bs-md-officer-kills-dog-20140202,0,3864041.story#ixzz2sJzwhvHJ

    • The whole story, according to the Sun, appears to be that the cop was trespassing in the home’s front yard, the dog barked at him, and he shot it. The article calls him a “one-year veteran”, which is code for “poorly-trained rookie cop”. From the facts provided, it doesn’t seem like there’s much justification, just a panicky rookie who’s just lucky he wasn’t surprised by a kid with an Airsoft gun or super-soaker…

  5. There are people who unreasonably fear and hate all dogs. They are typically inhumane to their fellow humans, too. Altogether shameful and piss-poor specimens of our sorry species.

    • There are people who unreasonably fear and hate all guns. They are typically inhumane to their fellow humans, too. Altogether shameful and piss-poor specimens of our sorry species.

  6. Yeah, yeah. The dog “attacked” him.

    BULLSHIT. I want to see photos of the officer’s injuries. Then and ONLY then will I ever buy into that line.

      • They eventually did. Unlike these cowards with a badge, that shoot if a dog starts growling at them. To many people, their dog is their companion, a member of the family. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if the owners begin to shoot back.

        • @J o e, A dog is no more a piece of property than a child. Try convincing any parent that their child can be replaced.

        • Let me make things clear Joe, if anyone shoots my dog when it’s not actively biting people, they are going into the ground.

        • It is morally incorrect to equate the life of a dog with a human. Period.

          With that said, the cop should be reprimanded in a meaningful way.

        • @J o e, A dog is no more a piece of property than a child. Try convincing any parent that their child can be replaced.

          I agree with Rambeast and Pwrserge.

          Joe you obviously have the same suc a$$ attitude as that 1st yr retard cop that deserves to be put down as other have suggested.

          The cop shot a beloved friend of a family that had nothing to with the investigation at hand, and the cop was trespassing as the article suggested.

          Dear retard cop use the dang public sidewalk, better yet park in front of the home under investigation.

        • Sorry all, but I don’t think shooting a dog justifies using lethal force on another human. He could have also killed the dog by kicking it; Sounds like all of you would shoot someone for kicking a dog.

        • @ smackit – I disagree. The value of human (adult) life is relative. It only has value by virtue of what the individual does with it. Humans such as serial violent offenders have no value except as fertilizer.

          @ Joe – Some people use dogs as tools, they are no more attached to them than they are to a harrow or weed eater. Fine so long as the owners are humane. Some keep dogs as part of their tribe, their family. These dogs are legally property, but are a part of the family and therefore higher on the totem pole than any other non-family member. Woe be to the fool who harms my family.

          It is also generally held that psych/evil/sick people often manifest early expression of their sickness against animals, pets, etc. How someone treats a dog says a very great deal to me about that person. Kicking them at any time other than in a defense situation is no more acceptable than shooting them.

          If you aren’t family, my dog > you. It’s best you assume that about every dog owner.

    • The only time I ever shot a dog(yes, I hated doing it) I did not wait for the dog to injure me before I fired. Nor would I wait for a tweaker to stab me or a mugger to get a choke hold on me. I’m not saying yay nor nay to this cops actions. I’m saying it’s pretty damn assinine to wait until injuries are present to qualify for a dgu.

      • AACPD is definitely not known for providing consultants to NASA. Let’s wait and see what the investigation reveals besides a dead family pet and a large check.

    • Oh there will be wounds. He will go home and stab himself in the leg with a fork and say SEE!!! When you want to get a photograph next to a ruler and bite impression from the dead dog, they will treat you like you are retarded or from another planet!
      FUCK THOSE COPS that shoot peoples dogs for no reason. It’s going to be a sad sad day for any cop who shoots any of my dogs for no fucking reason.

    • I grew up in Anne Arundel County not too far from Annapolis. I was about to correct the spelling myself. Anyway, here is a little history.
      Little is known about the short life of Anne Arundel, the namesake of Anne Arundel County. She was born in 1605, the daughter of a powerful Catholic nobleman, Thomas, Lord Arundel (often spelled Arundell) of Wardour.

      Lady Anne was 13 when she made a politically advantageous marriage to Cecil Calvert, the second Lord of Baltimore. A well-connected Catholic nobleman, Calvert inherited from his father, the first Lord of Baltimore, the title of “Absolute lord of Maryland and Avalon” along with provincial rights to the new colony

    • I’ve found that kind words and a rub behind the ears do enough for me 99 times out of 100. I don’t understand why he would shoot a lab that probably just was saying hello. He deserves to be fired and criminally prosecuted for his actions. And this is coming from a LEO

    • I agree with OC/Pepper spray as being great at repelling dogs, the problem is that since the rise of the taser the pepper has gotten taken off of most duty belts (the whole tase a guy who has been sprayed and he MIGHT catch fire thing).

      I know a lot of cops who keep a box of dog treats in their buggy to earn a little love from a borderline dog. I’ve shot one in 14 years (was left in a campground by its owners, broke its lead and tore up the guy delivering firewood, and it was either shoot the thing or let him chew up the other campers, he was NOT a freindly dog). I’ve known a dozren cops who have gotten bit. one dog went through a screen door to get to one cop who was just delivering a subpoena, (my leg was attacked by a Snauzer once….”he doesn’t like men” the owner said) and some of those dogs were decriibed as “freindly”.

  10. What a fucker. I’m with Excedrine. I’d like to see any proof at all that the cop was in real danger.

      • Also breed specific rescue orgs that work to find homes for their “pet” breed. I got my chocolate lab from a pound, found my little Heinz 57 in the woods, and rescued my current yellow lab from one of those “need to find a home for…” emails. But I certainly don’t begrudge someone who chooses to buy a puppy from a respectable breeder. That usually gets you a healthy animal without some if the problems breeds may be known for.

      • Free? You’ve got to be kidding. I went looking for a dog about five years ago. The shelter here had several, but when I read the “rules” and learned how much it would cost, I left. First they wanted a complex “contract” signed, which would allow them to INSPECT my house and yard before I could take the dog, and then at their whim any time later for the first year. I had to commit to specific, regular vet visits and a bunch more stuff I don’t remember. No way was any of that happening. Then the cost, if they graciously decided to let me have the dog… Total came to nearly $200.

        I went on line and found a “rescue” operation for the breed I really wanted. Met with the rescue people and talked for a while. They had originally said they’d need $100. for their expenses, and I agreed to that. I used to raise AKC black labradors, and trained them for hunting. I also gave away a lot of them for pets when they were not suitable for hunting. This little guy had been seriously abused, and I was very glad I could rescue him.

        Anyway, I just shook my head in wonder when I read in the paper recently that the “shelter” is having a very hard time placing the dogs they have and they had to stop accepting any more. No kidding. Their list of “rules” and costs have probably gone to twenty pages by now.

  12. A gun owner is not irresponsible if he shoots a dog that is intent on biting him. Human>dog. Maybe he shouldn’t have been there in the first place, but when I think of “irresponsible gun owner” I think of someone leaving a gun out near a child or accidentally letting off a round.

    • It’s called FIRE DISCIPLINE. If one of our troops pulled this in Iraq, they would be looking at a serious NJP. The overwhelming majority of dogs never attack people. Cops who shoot dogs when they are on other people’s private property without a warrant need to get arrested.

      • I know someone who was a squad leader during a tour in Iraq, and insisted that all of his guys shoot at least one dog just to make sure they wouldn’t have issues shooting at a living thing. I know that will be a horrible thing for many to consider, but he is one of the more well adjusted and non-violent people I know.

        • Kind of, there are certainly packs running around, and the locals don’t have anything like the American love of dogs, but the dogs figured this out. There were a lot of platoons that adopted dogs to run with them on foot patrol, and the dogs would growl and bark at Iraqis. Sometimes alerted our guys to ambushes, even. A lot of dogs over there seemed to like anyone in an American uniform, and hate everyone else.

          We adopted one for about two months, until the First Sergeant found out. He told us if we didn’t get rid of her, he would do it for us with his pistol. Took days to chase her off for good, one of the harder things I’ve had to do.

        • Baghdad set up special dog extermination squads.They had Iraqi guys with shotguns wearing these cheesy green vests would walk around shooting the feral dogs.

        • As I understand it, and I have done a lot of research on the Eastern Front, German commanders would frequently call up their new, unblooded, recruits and have them shoot Soviet prisoners for this very same reason. And for the reason that they wanted their rank and file to think no more of Russians (Slavs) and Jews than we feel about a random dog.

          While it may be a concern to enter combat with some one you know has never killed and may freeze up, it concerns me more to think that killing a feral dog would seem an appropriate way to inure them to the shooting of a human being, even a radical Islamist enemy combatant.

        • Dog is considered a filthy, unclean animal in Islam (thanks to that dickhead Muhammad and his personal dislike of them), and so any conservative Muslim country will treat their dogs like shit.

    • Irresponsible gun owner also covers discharging a firearm when not warranted causing injury and/or death.

      As far as the “intent on biting him” comment; most people don’t know how to read a dog. It is fairly easy to know when you are in danger, or when the dog is just giving you a friendly reminder that “this is my home, and I don’t know you, back off”. Your posture, tone of voice, pace of your step are all signs to them of your intent and disposition. They know this naturally, and through experience. You could at least learn to interact properly if you are in a job that will expose you to them regularly, on their home ground.

      • +1

        Far too many innocent dogs are getting shot/killed just because they are in the right place (watching their property) at the wrong time (when a police officer wants to enter that property.) The police officer could back off a few feet, then demand that the owner control the dog, BUT NO. They shoot the dog first, then ask questions later.

    • A gun owner is not irresponsible if he shoots a dog that is intent on biting him. Human>dog. Maybe he shouldn’t have been there in the first place, but when I think of “irresponsible gun owner” I think of someone leaving a gun out near a child or accidentally letting off a round.

      He absolutely is irresponsible if he’s trespassing on the dog owner’s property.

  14. Well, you just can’t let a dog obstruct justice. If you can’t cuff ’em and stuff ’em, kill ’em and chill ’em.

    Anyway…mankind > dogs in most cases, but *my* dog >> 99.99999% of the rest of the universe. I’m not sure what I would say or do to anyone, LEO or not, who came on my property and shot my Molly without definitive cause. There’d likely be at least one more shooting, one way or the other.

  15. If my dog ever comes face to face with a cop and I’m not standing right there, my dog will be dead, and you guys will read about me in the paper. And what you read won’t be a quote, it’ll be a story. I don’t have a wife, I don’t have kids. I have a dog. My dog is my family, and woe be unto the man who messes with another man’s family.

    • The story you referenced will read like this, “Loner with no family commits murder over canine companion. He was arrested and awaits prosecution in 6’x9′ cell. 30 year prison sentence expected under current law.” – You lose and make 2A supporters look bad.

      • You’ll excuse me if in that situation I don’t really give a damn about that last part, right? If anything stays my hand it wouldn’t be worries about making you look bad.

      • How about: “Local community member under investigation for manslaughter after defending his person and property against unwarranted entry and violence by what turned out to be the police.” We are supposed to be safe from unwarranted search & seizure, not punished on top of it.

    • Such Family. Much Respect. But seriously, I get what you’re saying and I’m not saying you’re wrong.

    • I’m with you. I do have a wife and kids (mostly grown ones). And I’ve also got two dogs and they are as precious to me as any other member of my family, which means they are more precious to me than all but three people in the entire world. I would defend those guys with my life. It would be the least I could do as much as they have given me.

      I do not extend the same feeling to my daughter’s rabbits (3) and guinea pigs (2) which I like, but have in the back of my mind that they are sort of protein on the hoof, so to speak, in case the SHTF (don’t tell her I said that).

      • @505markf omg so good hahaha loved the bunnies and guinea pigs comment.

        First time I ever saw someone skin a bunny it was “Wanna see how we get rid mr bunny foo foos fuzzy pants?”

    • My dog was chosen with care. She was chosen to protect my family when I was on swing shift or graveyard.
      She was me, when I wasn’t there.
      She did her job extremely well, and we all loved her for it.
      I would have protected her just as much as the wife or kids.
      Yeah, I know what you mean.

    • I’m with you. PGCPD is just as bad [see Berwyn Heights mayor shoot-em-up]. I have a wife and a dog, and I dote on both.

      • To be fair, the Berwyn Heights incident involved both the PG County Sheriff’s and Police Department (each are separate entities). In particular, the SWAT team involved was from the Sheriff’s Office, and isn’t well-regarded by the Police Department.

    • Wholeheartedly agree. No family, no intent on making one. My dog is my family. Draw on her and you’re dead.
      Or would Mr. Piggie let me shoot his daughter? She attacked my eyes by being ugly, so I unloaded on her.
      Isn’t that fair?

    • I agree with you Matt. but should it go down that way, make sure its a good story and do it with some panache.

      Like shoot to wound, then feed the cop to some pigs. Because everyone loves a good ironic twist in a story.

      • Wait, pwrserge, you named your dog Gomer? Someday he’s going to drop a plugged in power appliance while you’re taking a bath.

    • A lot of criminals dress as cops; if some unknown individual dressed as a cop trespasses on your property and shoots your dog and you know your dog was never aggressive except with those that were bad people; you would just be defending yourself from what is most likely a criminal.

    • I respectfully suggest that you need to grow up a bit.
      You sound more like a 20’s something boy or a “guy” instead of a man (which seems to be quite common nowadays).
      Get married, have some kids, and I think you’ll get your priorities straightened out.
      It is morally incorrect to equate the life of a dog with a human.
      I would certainly assert that your freedom as a human is more valuable than the life of your dog (it certainly better be if you’re married with kids…se how that works?)

      With that said, the cop should be reprimanded in a meaningful way.

      • Why does it take getting married and having kids to “get my priorities straightened out?” Am I somehow incomplete as a man unless I do those things? Can I just “not understand” until then? Well, with all due respect, I’m pretty fucking content with my priorities as they are, thankyaverymuch.

        I have no immediate prospects for marriage and I have no interest in kids at all. (I have friends that have known they wanted kids since high school; I’ve never felt that urge.) The right woman could change either/both of those, of course, but for right now, and for the past 7.5 years, my dog has been my family, and as such, that’s my reaction.

        • So, um… yeah. I didn’t know who Dennis Prager was, and despite God being in the title, it really surprised me when that article took a sudden left toward religioustown.

          How do we convince people to save a human being they do not know rather than the dog they do know and love? There is only one way. We need to teach — as we did throughout American history until the 1960s — that human beings are created in God’s image and animals are not.

          So yeah… but no. The example given was that of a speeding bus bearing down on my dog and a stranger, and the researcher was surprised (and dismayed) to see that 40 percent of respondents, including 46 percent of women, voted to save their dog over a foreign tourist.

          And so would I. If I took the time to think about it (which I wouldn’t in reality, I’d just jump), I would come to that conclusion because that foreign tourist is human, and capable of rational thought and making connections to abstract events, and so could look for (or look at) that speeding bus and come to the conclusion to get out of the way. The dog can’t. My dog can’t. So God’s image or not, screw that guy. I’m saving the one that doesn’t (can’t) know any better.

          For the record, I’m not an active disbeliever, I’m more or less indifferent, so my comments don’t come from a place of antagonism, just indifference. I’m not trying to start a religious war.

        • Matt, I had a college girlfriend who liked to play this silly game. I also adopted a chocolate lab I found languishing at the pound when I was 22. “If Okee and I were trapped in a burning building, who would you save?” I always responded the dog. It pissed her off but good, and of course my answer was always the same. I dated her for about a year and a half, but I had that dog for a full third of my life. He nearly made 16.

          As to who to save, it depends where the human is on my totem pole. My girls are first, my wife second, I’m third

          • “You can think for yourself (theoretically, at least). The dog would panic and go hide in the corner and probably die there. I’m saving him.”

          • I’d never heard of that story before. That’s… interesting. Both the story and your applying it to me. I’ll have to think on that for a while.

      • I can’t agree with you that it is ‘morally incorrect to equate the life of a dog with a human’ as a blanket statement. I have met many humans that weren’t worth the life of a cockroach, let alone a good dog. Any number of criminals, including most politicians, fall into that category.

        • The scenario was very simple, a stranger or your dog….it’s not hard. The HUMAN stranger standing there is NOT Adolph Hitler in full Nazi regalia. As Prager noted in the article this wouldn’t have been an question up for debate prior to the 60’s. But to his dismay and mine, many Americans consider America before 1960’s (Uhhh…how should i put it….oh yeah….. Matt said it best……”ReligousTown”) and all the made up evils that the university leftist professors can project onto it.

      • Wow. “Grow up,” “Get married, have some kids, and I think you’ll get your priorities straightened out.” Are you actually serious? Is that how you think?

  16. Police deptments issue Mace, if this police officer did not try that first, should be fired. If he’s afraid of a dog, he’s in the wrong line of work.

  17. Don’t worry, the police will investigate themselves, as usual…

    And find no wrong-doing, as usual…

    • They just take a cue from the irs who quite shockingly found they didn’t target Conservatives, not a smidgen, Randy

  18. This isn’t a gun story, but does show that sometimes cops like dogs, too.

    http://newsok.com/oklahoma-county-sheriff-helps-family-who-lost-their-dog-in-a-high-speed-chase/article/3928934

    Deputies did not run over the dog, the suspect did.

    To the point of this story, though, while facts are kind of thin, a newer officer and no clear explanation given for why he thought he was being attacked makes me think it’s a bad shoot.

    I can’t remember how many angry dogs have barked at me in the last five years- but I haven’t even had to spray one, much less shoot.

    • I was thinking the same thing. I’ve been barked at plenty by rapidly approaching dogs. None have ever bit me, and I could tell they were only giving a warning.

      Why isn’t canine behavior part of police training anyway?

      • Most departments around here don’t have enough time to train firearms or how to properly deal with mental health patients, much less the behavior patterns of another species. I don’t know if there’s even any standard of training for dog behavior that could be used- not that there isn’t one, just that I haven’t heard of it if there is. What I know, I know because I own dogs.

        When I was in the Army, it was train, train, train, until it came time for deployment, and then we trained even more. Then, after you come back home, you get ready for the next training cycle. Police are in a sense constantly deployed. There is obviously nothing like the same kind of danger from terrorists, roadside bombs, snipers, and such, but when you show up at work, you go out and work, every day.

        There isn’t the budget to have guys in training all the time, because you either have to hire enough full-time bodies to cover the street and training at the same time, or you have to pay out a huge amount of overtime to get the same coverage. So, you get maybe one training day a month, to cover;

        Rifle qualification, pistol qualification, hopefully an actual firearms training day on top of that, defensive tactics (hand fighting), pursuit driving, first aid, hazardous materials, legal update, ethics (don’t laugh, it’s required for accreditation), emotionally disturbed person/crisis management (if you’re lucky), and a few others I can’t remember at 1am.

        In short, it kind of sucks.

        • My dept does firearms training once per year. Fortunately I work for a department where most officers are gun totin 2a supporters who practice on their own dime, but if they can’t afford or have the desire to train us to shoot, they’re definitely not going to have dog training.

  19. My dog is part of my family. He may be at the bottom of my totem pole, but the rest of humanity is not even on it. Someone posted earlier human>dog. No f*ing way. Very few humans are >dog.

    This copper needs to find honest work. As a chew toy.

    • Laugh!

      And I wholeheartedly agree, especially with the dog being a prominent family member more trusted than a human!

  20. RIP. Chesapeakes are really nice, as well as pretty pricey, hunting dogs.

    Owner needs to sue. Maybe press charges. Dogs are property and this is one good reason for them to stay in that category, so you can claim property rights violation.

    • When you injure or kill a K9, you are charged with assaulting/killing an officer. I think the shooting of a family member (I don’t think of other living things as property) should apply as well.

      • “When you injure or kill a K9, you are charged with assaulting/killing an officer”

        [citation needed]

        • Depends on how you define “same”. You kill or assault a police dog it is a mid-class felony, or at least a high-class misdemeanor in any state I can think of the top of my head. If you really need a cite for that, I suggest google…

          Unlike when the kill-’em-all-roid-raging-rookie offs your dog for being a dog. Not a threat, just a dog. He won’t get a ding in his jacket, but he might get a commendation for valor. (Sadly, not kidding.)

        • It’s not killing a police officer; that’s overstating it. However, it’s not a minor thing either.

          Fl. Stat. 843.19 (2) Any person who intentionally and knowingly, without lawful cause or justification, causes great bodily harm, permanent disability, or death to, or uses a deadly weapon upon, a police dog, fire dog, SAR dog, or police horse commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

          Those statutes at the end give the penalties for a third degree felony as being up to 5 years and $5,000. In addition,

          (5) A person convicted of an offense under this section shall make restitution for injuries caused to the police dog, fire dog, SAR dog, or police horse and shall pay the replacement cost of the animal if, as a result of the offense, the animal can no longer perform its duties.

          By the way, it’s not just killing the dog. If you “actually and intentionally maliciously” touch, strike, or cause bodily harm to a police animal, that’s a Misdemeanor 1. If you “intentionally or knowingly maliciously” harass, tease, interfere with, or attempt to interfere with a police animal, that’s a Misdemeanor 2.

      • All animals are equal; some are just more equal than others. When a police dog is killed; it gets a full police burial.

        It makes sense; the police are the only ones allowed to carry a gun pretty much everywhere except a prison. They are the only ones that can shoot an innocent citizen in a police raid and only get some paid time off and a slap on the wrist; they can shoot a loved family pet and no even have to say they’re sorry; if we do the same to them; if we kill a cop breaking down the wrong door in a no knock raid; if we survive the encounter, we go to prison; if we injure or kill a police dog that went off and is threatening or attacking us we’re charged with a felony.

        What more proof does one need on just how much the government and their enforcers;(even their dogs) has become the master and we are the servants.

      • Police K9 should not have more protection, legally, than my dog, or anyone elses for that matter. The officer should be charged if he was not attacked. He will not be. As was said, some animals are more equal than others. If the department or the States Attorney for AA county does nothing I would not be opposed to putting a round in a K9 seated in the back of a cruiser while the handler is having dinner. There are many ways to give them their comeuppance.

  21. Attitude!

    During my years in L/E during the 70’s and 80’s shooting a dog would have been the last thing to come to mind. Back off, run away, go around or simply avoid; or is situational awareness that hard to come by these days?

    I won’t second guess the county sheriff at this point, but his off hand comment to the owner that he had to “unload” on his dog says it all.

    There seem to be so many dog shootings; is it media hype, or has the attitude in L/E become that statist and authoritarian? Lord help us if it has.

    • This guy wasn’t an AA County Sheriff, he was an AA County cop. The County Sheriff’s deputies make fun of them.

    • Good point; has the attitude been so ingrained to never back down; to dominate every situation; to never show “weakness” even with a dog, that they would rather kill the dog than to back away and give the ground to a dog?

  22. “Your cop attacked my dog, so I shot the bastard.”

    I’m waiting for that story. Oh, wait. Ruby Ridge.

  24. How did I ever survive all those years as a paperboy ?

    How is it , Fed ex drivers ,Mail carriers ,Girl Scouts ( love them cookies ) Mormons,Meter readers , to name a few ever manage to knock on doors and live to,tell about it….

  25. Prediction: After the investigation, by the people who brought you the shot dog, it was determined that the dog was indeed shot and justifiably so.. how could it ever be judged as anything else??.. nobody admits guilt. Their liability insurance would be dropped.

  26. So this guy was cutting through private property which he had no reason to be on, and shot someone’s pet while essentially trespassing? In some parts of the country this guy would be applying for a Darwin Award right about now. If it were me I’d shove a lawyer so far up his a$$ he’d be clearing subpoenas out of his teeth.

  28. Of course, any K-9 unit dog that is killed on duty gets a big, full honors police funeral. Cops think that THEIR mutts are special, just not yours. That “only ones” thing again.

  29. My friend had two Chesapeake bay retrievers (not at the same time). They were big, stupid and slobbered all over everything. They were not at all aggressive. Maybe the cop didn’t want to have to wash all of the drool off of his uniform.

  30. Two days ago a couple guys knocked on my door, my lab was barking up a storm and growled when one shook my hand. One of the men was carrying a concealed Ruger SR40…he didn’t shoot my noisy assault…err…black lab.

    Labs are friendly. They bark because arrivals must be celebrated.

  31. Were a uniformed officer to shoot my dog while I was nearby, his next shots would necessarily be directed at me. I am settled and comfortable in this decision.

  32. All police carry pepper spray. In my experiences, pepper spray is extremely effective against canines of all types. Stop shooting peoples’ fucking dogs.

  33. I don’t know if these incidents are getting more common or just getting more publicity, but under any circumstance, a cop’s first response to any dog should not be to shoot it until dead.

  34. Just one opinion- IMHO, this is getting to be too predictable, ie: slam the cops for shooting dogs, here at TTAG.
    Good click bait, no doubt, but not always fair, in my view, and this is an egregious example.

    We dont have all the facts and this article is not much help, even if you read it all. Theres nothing that says the dog was “not aggressive”.

    Couple of points in response to other posters – I try to limit what I say here on TTAG to what I know about, and on the gun side, I am a newbie, and have more far questions than answers,

    but from a long-time dog owner, perspective, having owned several big protective dogs, of various breeds, and remembering one particular Chessie in particular:

    1. Chesapeake Bay Retrievers are not like Labrador retrievers. Not even from the same strain of water dogs by breeding, they are much bigger (80#s), more dominant (and if you dont train the dog to recognize you as the Alpha, he will become it- its what dogs do, from Chihuahuas on up), and tough, protective, serious dogs by nature. Not likely to lick you to death like your typical suburban yelloow lab you got from Petco or the backyard breeder/puppy mill that have downgraded the labs from the traditional hunting dogs they were 20 years ago.

    Read more here and scroll down to “dont buy a …”.
    http://www.cbrrescue.org/articles.htm

    Chessies are a lot closer to German Shepards, Bouviers, and Rhodesians in protective qualities – Fearless, intensely loyal and protective to family, and VERY intelligent working dogs, and more predictable than a Pitbull, for example, in that they are likely to bark and threaten, to chase you off, and see if that works,
    to give you a chance to back down,

    rather than “full on fight, I’m chewing your arm off until you cut my head off”
    right out of the box reputation of the fighting breeds, once stimulated, that is also more typical of terrier breeds, Jack Russells on up to Staffordshires.

    Heres the problem for the non-dog person, cop or no-cop, that we dog lovers
    forget-

    Standing your ground in the face of a “bluff” charge, by knowing which breed is which, and judging the personality of the individual dog on the run by body language and bark, is a cognitively non-obvious decision for anyone without experience with big-dogs, and even tougher (impossible) decision for someone with bad experiences with big dogs.

    Watch “The Dog Whisperer” show a few times to get it. You dont adopt a threatening direct stare in return, its more of a “you deserve my attention” point of view. Conversely, you only need to be bit once by a big dog with the kind of jaw strength of one of those breeds for it to be hard-wired in your brain it just aint happening again…and Animal Control pro’s will tell you that 70% of dog bites are to owners trying to separate their dogs in a fight.

    2. You could also say the cop should have known better than to walk across lawns without being prepared to be confronted, in a neighborhood full of dogs. But that would come from knowing the neighborhood, first- and SA, which he might not have had, and questioning his risk management while focusing on finding for a bad guy first.

    The first two are tough for a one-year rookie to accumulate in first job, the third you cant second guess if you weren’t there.

    3. You could also say the owners should have had a known aggressive breed under better control. Leash laws apply here. If your dog bites my dog while I am walking him on a leash, guess who the judge awards vet costs for the stitches?

    So if I had to decide, I’d be coming down on the part of the cop, on this one.

    And thats from someone who has adopted all sorts of dogs, and they are all family, and I’d defend them just like you would your kids. So I get the anger and sadness here by dog owners, too. I bet the cop does too, if he has any heart at all.

    3. Sadly ironic, the Chesapeake Bay Retriever is the State Dog of Maryland.

    • While I agree there may be some small chance in hell that this copper had some legitimate fear, here’s the meta-question that the police apologist angle never covers…

      What about the rest of us? Does the pizza man, Fedex, UPS, mailman, flower guy, grocery guy, visiting nurse, and your friends who come to visit, do they, ALL of them, have some magical dog whisperer training not bestowed upon on super-citizens? They (and seemingly everyone in the US) manage to avoid shooting dogs that bark at them. Scared or not.

      For decades cops too managed not to shoot dogs all the time, in fact, it was considered a pansy move to even suggest it. If you couldn’t club a dog into submission… Over the last 20 years especially, it’s become a free-for-all, obscenities like this are so common place they’re hardly noticed.

      And before it comes, you’re damn right a potential dog bite comes with the job. It does for everybody else who’s job involves interacting with animals, coppers are no different.

      • ah, not to quibble here, but the postman, fedex, ups, pizza guy don’t carry guns, in my neighborhood, anyway.

        Eexcept the mail carrier has pepper spray and he tells me he gits big on aveage twice a year…despite being pretty good at using it.

        YMMV.

    • I have to disagree with one of your points. Instead of knowing the neighborhood and if it’s safe to wall across lawns, why not keep only to the lawn of the house the officer was approaching?

      Walking across front lawns is just disrespectful and unnecessary.

    • I owned a chessie and he was NOTHING like you described.. he was a warm loving lap dog, not fearless, not brave, and certainly not protective, not anything but an extra couch cushion…BOOM!! there goes all that chessie stereotyping…. further, I now own two pitbulls, they are also NOTHING like you describe.. they are both predictable, right down to their meal times and nap times. they offer no one any surprises..Not to the mailman, the meter reader or the occasional cop thats called…they are as lethargic at 8am, as they are at 9pm, even with a giant backyard to run in. BOOM! there goes the stereotypical pitbull nonsense

      I find the self important, blow hard know-it-all that feels the need to spout their “knowledge” , are always dead wrong.. and no finer example of that is shown when it comes to the know-it-all dog owners

      • Theres exceptions to every rule, of course. The link went to a Chessie rescue group, not my blowhard know-it-all opinion-lots more people with lots more experience on the breed than you or I, which I was careful to qualify as limited to my own small experience.

        Not as a know it all- just another POV that might add to the limited context in the article.

        I might even point out that your knee-jerk response to generalize from our own single solitary and biased example that might even be atypical, would be … wrong, based on facts,

        but, then I’d be giving you the dignity of a response based on facts, which, since you failed to address them in your rush to resort to a personal insult, means I’d be wasting my time.

        The word “projection” comes to mind.

  35. As someone who used to work with Barney’s, not cool. As they used to say on Candid Camera, “Some time some where when you least expect it” Bye Bye Barney!

  36. I don’t keep up on all the cases, since I’m not a supervisor and probably never will be, but here’s a summary of the only three dog shooting calls I can remember for my department. This is over the five years I’ve been working, and I can’t say for sure there weren’t others. If there were, I didn’t hear about it.

    Last year, a dog owner called 911 because they had a known aggressive pitbull, and their adult roommate had a known aggressive mastiff or something, not completely sure but it was one of the stereotypical fighting breeds. Anyway, after a few casual and unprompted fights between these two dogs, they got into it for real, and then attacked the owners when they tried to break it up. They barricaded themselves in a bedroom and begged our guys to shoot the dogs. I was told it looked like someone sprayed the room with blood, so the fight must have been pretty bad.

    Several months before that, some people broke into a house for sale and set up a huge marijuana grow. Not making any moral statements about the legality of marijuana, but the burglary, the several guns they had around (one was a 12ga with steel slugs), and the fact that they brought their children in to squat in the middle of the grow with them didn’t impress me. Anyway, they got themselves a guard pitbull, which charged one of our guys as they were entering the building. No time to figure out the dog’s personality, under the circumstances.

    A few years ago, four pitbulls were reported running around a neighborhood in a stereotypical aggressive pitbull manner. The first guy there found them all starting to chew on a small child in the street. Killed two, wounded a third, and the fourth ran off. I think the child went to the hospital for dog bites, but recovered.

    The point is that normal people see normal dogs under normal circumstances. This is especially true when you think about your own dog, which you see every day, as the dog is in a familiar place with familiar people who form the core of their lives. Police sometimes see abnormal dogs, abused dogs, dogs trained (haphazardly) to be aggressive, and in abnormal situations.

    This sometimes happens during calls that make it either difficult or stupid to run away- had our guys left the drug house, we could have ended up with an armed barricaded situation with children thrown into the mix. Does anyone think it would have been better to pull back and wait for SWAT?

    Consider that we didn’t know there were children or a dog at first- the call came out as a burglary in progress, because the homeowner didn’t know what they were looking at. So for a retreat to have worked, someone would have had to run away from a charging pitbull with potentially (and in this case factually) armed felony suspects at his back.

    Now all that being said, you also sometimes get the new guy, nervous and determined, being surprised by a loud bark and just plain over-reacting. I offer no excuse for these.

    • You cite 2 very specific clear examples for which I think you’d find a lot of agreement here. In one case the police were called to the property, not casually cutting through or whatever. Point is they were asked to be there. And no one should argue with putting down packed dogs attacking a child. If my own dog attacked my children I’d be digging a hole in the back yard.

      Not every dog shooting is so clear cut. The weed growing burglar case illustrates how little the responding cops knew about the situation inside. Assessment and patience go a long way when there is no clear imminent danger to anyone. Why not wait until the dog goes out in the back yard, or the people come out the front? Why rush in?

      Why the generally pervasive GO GO GO mentality? What exactly does SWAT entry solve that patience and timing can’t do better in many cases? Why do they think they can control a situation they don’t have eyes on or in? The delay might just save lives when someone realizes they’re at the wrong address.

      • The drug house wasn’t a SWAT entry. Regular patrol guys, I think the call was from the homeowner, who had listed the house for sale and drove by to find people inside. Had no idea there was a drug operation going on, or that there was a dog. Came out as a burglary in progress. Homeowner was waiting at the end of a long driveway and gave our guys the key.

        Standard procedure for an in progress felony call without any unusual information like hostages, bombs, armed barricaded suspects, etc, is to go there, and unless you immediately get information like the above, try to detain the suspects. I don’t know if they knocked or not, usually if I get the key I open the door and make a loud announcement,

        “This is the (name of city) Police, we are conducting a building search, make your presence known or we cannot guarantee your safety!”

        Apparently as soon as they opened the door, the dog charged. No time to call SWAT.

        • I didn’t mean to suggest SWAT was involved with the drug house scenario; just that time and observation are not enemies of a successful arrest. I’m sure responding officers would love to know more about what they’re walking into. There seems to be an element of rush in when a more cautious approach would be warranted. Except in the case of responding to an active school shooter, where I would argue too little was done “in time”.

          Yes I know it’s easy to armchair QB these cases later with info not available at the time, in the (presumed) safety of my own home. And yes I know the screw ups get the attention that the positive contacts don’t.

    • I don’t think most of us would take much, if any issue, within those terribly limited set of circumstances. Especially a pack of feral any breed behaving badly – that’s not news, it’s just an unfortunate reality.

      What we do take issue with is cops killing dogs for no reason, save that they are there. Especially when the officer has absolutely no business being where they are.

  37. The home owner should have ran in the house like his ass was on fire, got his weapon, hid in the closet, and called 911 claiming the a LEO has gone on a rampage and has just shot his dog and that he is now in fear for his life. “I’ve got my gun and I’m hiding in my closet. You need to come save me. I’ll only come out if I hear the safe word “Monkey Slut”.”

  38. Ah yes, more good news out of my old county. I knew a few good cops on the AAC force, but I was also shaken down by one overly zealous officer assigned to the Annapolis Mall once. Good apples, bad apples.

    I hope this one feels great about putting down such a vicious creature.

  39. Aren’t Retrievers the breed of dogs that gang bangers use to guard drug dens? Vicious things I’ve heard.

    Derp.

    Dogs can be dangerous, and sometimes they need to be shot, but I didn’t read anything in this case that said so. Course I’m just a citizen so I might not be aware of departmental policies that mandate blowing away all canines encountered.

  40. One summer I had a job reading water meters for a small city of 30,000. Back in those days reading the meter was accomplished by walking up to it, opening the lid and actually reading the display and thus by the end of the summer I had walked into just about every yard in the city, through every gate and encountered every outside dog the city had to offer. We were cognizant of the potential for dog bite and I received a short, informal training from another meter reader on my first day. When a large Rottweiler mix offered him defensive aggression, charging forward while barking and growling he raised his clip board in one hand over his head, stood up tall and spread out and shouted ‘NO!’ several times as he took a few steps forward. The dog stopped immediately and began to retreat. I looked at him like he was insane until he explained that if you appear bigger and more aggressive than they are almost every dog socialized by humans for their own possession will back down and that any object gripped in your hand as if poised to strike reminds domesticated, socialized dogs of every rolled up news paper or whatever they have ever been disciplined with, they equate you with authority and the alpha and they simply lose the will to aggress you.

    Now, we all know that there are the occasional dogs out there that would still attack, but I would argue that they are exceedingly rare and that in the vast majority of the reports we hear of dog attack the victim did nothing like this show of assertiveness prior to being attacked.

    The guy who demonstrated this for me said that in 20 years reading meters he’d never been bitten and had never had to back down from getting to the meter and reading it because of a dog. He also said that he’d never actually struck one or used the mace they issued us. Likewise in my short career there my experience mirrored his and in all the years since the only dog bites I’ve ever suffered have been from small house pets belonging to relatives or friends and with whom I had failed to demonstrate assertiveness.

    I said all that to say this: I’m very seldom going to take an officers side when he shoots a dog. I get that they often encounter them in an excited state (both man and dog) as opposed to the relaxed state I encountered them in, however if, as a non-police officer I were in the habit of shooting every dog that displayed any aggression toward me I’d find myself facing criminal charges in short order. What concerns me the most about these reports is the clear double standard, cop does something most people instantly know to be wrong, and violently wrong at that, and yet nothing is ever done to disabuse the officer involved from his contention that he is above the law. One wonders what follows, shooting humans the officer falsely perceived to be a threat without investigation or appropriate punishment? Oh, wait, that already happens. . .

  41. What is the DEAL with these cops who can’t reach for pepper-spray? It’s the non-lethal alternative issued for just such a situation. Sheesh! It should at least be in the officer’s weak hand when he steps on anyone’s property, especially in rural areas. Any dog, no matter how naturally friendly, becomes territorial when the family isn’t home.

  42. No doubt they’ll clear the asshat cop of all wrong doing, not compensate the grieving family in any way whatsoever and everyone will forget it ever happened…except the poor family that lost their pet.

  43. If it happened to me no one near me would forget it. I’d post a large sign with a mug shot of the guilty popo declaring him a coward dog murderer. I would become a severe PITA for that cop and the entire department.

  44. When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything starts looking like a nail.

    Years ago before leash laws out in the county, most of my neighbors’ dogs ran loose. Everytime I rode my motorcycle through the neighborhood the dogs would chase me. I started carrying a bag of doggie treats with me, stop and give them some. They still came after me, but their intent was much different…

  45. You didn’t know this by now? Exterminating dogs on sight is standard police officer protocol.

    If I am outside with my dog and a squad car drives down the street, I rush him in faster than MDA waves the bloody shirt following any news of a shooting. I will not have my dog anywhere in sight of a police officer, even if he’s on a leash and clearly not going anywhere near the officer.

  46. I got charged with tresspassing once. Outside of traffic tickets the only mark on my record. Long story short, if the property isn’t fenced and posted there’s no valid charge. Also, in my case, the person making the complaint turned out to have been wrong, it wasn’t their property I was on. Not guilty in magistrates court and the person filing the charges got a stern talking too.

  47. After reading all the comments (pro and con), I surmise that the root of all the consternation isn’t the act of Barney shooting the dog as much as discomfort and outrage over his perceived lack of respect for life in general.

    The article gives the impression that he shot the dog as casually as he would swat a fly. If this is indeed the fact of the matter, he is a public menace and needs to be fired and kept away from all weapons.

    • And women and children.

      Lots of studies about psychopaths and perverts show that they start their behavior on animals. Recent stories about police atrocities make it quite clear that there are some seriously twisted sadists now afoot with a badge and a gun on them.

  49. To anyone who reads this far down into these posting I offer a fictitious scenario. Imagine a nation that valued the life of a dog equally with a human’s life. Would that be wise? You could shoot someone who killed or threatened a chihuahua as if they attacked your grandmother. Think of the ramifications of hitting a dog with you vehicle. I’m sure it would be heartbreaking but hit a human instead and you’ll see the difference. Imagine a nation where it’s justifiable to defend a dog using deadly force. Imagine the rights and privelegdes that would have to go along with putting a canine life at par with a human life. Imagine a nation where police are shot justifiably for shooting a pit bull terrier. And ask yourself if it’s possible if sometimes police do have to dispatch an animal to enact the greater justice (serving a warrant, raiding a drug den, stopping a poacher, etc.). As much as I love dogs they are viewed by the courts as property. The above story deals with a trigger happy cop who shot a dog that didn’t deserve to die clearly. Some cops are idiots. But to say you’d kill the officer and just let the chips fall where they may is irresponsible. If I ever served on that jury I’d send your ass to the brig with a clear conscience. Then I’d go home and hug my dog. People of the gun need to think smart. They need to act smart and not let emotions rule their trigger finger. Some of the post here are by people who shouldn’t carry a gun. You know who you are.

Comments are closed.