Monday, December 28, 2009

B.C. RCMP shoot dog during training exercise

(h/t Marcie)

Terrible, all round terrible.

From the CBC news video Police killed pitbull

Times are hard. People need support especially this time of year. I don't need to look on the news and see pictures of my one year boy bawling his eyes out because people are insensitive to the fact that his dog was just killed. I don't need my four year old daughter saying, "Oh they're going to shoot me tomorrow". I don't need my eight year daughter hiding in a closet at her auntie's house because she's too scared to come over because her doggie was killed. I don't ... we don't deserve that. You know ... my wife is about to have a child. This is supposed to be a happy time. And all we know now is ... we don't. I feel so silly because ... we were ... we were ... my wife and I were arguing a bit about money for Christmas ... we both feel silly now. You know what. I just want my dog. I just want my dog.

The following news video is graphic:



From CBC, B.C. RCMP probe police shooting of pitbull:

The Mounties said the pitbull crossed into a neighbouring property where a police dog handler and police dog were conducting a training exercise. The pitbull then attacked the police dog, biting its throat, police said.

“As a result of being unable to separate the two dogs and in an effort to get the pitbull to release the police dog, which was suffocating and in danger of losing its life, a member of the Chilliwack RCMP discharged his service pistol hitting and killing the civilian dog,” the RCMP said in a statement.

14 comments:

Ian said...

I was wondering about something when I read and saw video on this story.
If your dog is off your own property but is on an adjoining property with permission(according to the neighbor) would you be in violation of leash laws?

This is tragic for all but if the leash law wasn`t being violated,I think the RCMP are in the wrong because they didn`t notify people about this training exercise.

Many dogs would go after a strange dog.

borderjack said...

Is this for real???? thanks for posting it though, because, living in my ignorant bliss, I would never have guessed that happened in Canada.

Seriously??? Police can just conduct simulated training exercises with dogs on private property, without notice and without consent and think it's okay? And then there's the suggestion that the yard was not fully fenced and the dog should have been under better control???)

Holy crap.

borderjack said...

The other thing I find disturbing is the headlines: why try to prejudice readers? Pitbulls have enough problems as it is, and that dog probably did what many other dogs, regardless of breed, would have done. It probably did what a human might have done if under perceived threat.

Why not just say, "Police kill family dog"?

Heather B said...

IF the attacking dog had been anything but a Pittie, would the story have even made the paper??
Doubt it. I saw this on the news. There are no fences around the houses. I would like to know why the dog went after the Police Dog since it was supposedly being supervised by family. A dog is dead because no one thought of fence or leash. There were enough police around to separate the dogs.Why didn`t they do that?
These stories piss me off. Knee jerk reactions by that officer may have killed another human instead of `just a dog`. Damn , humans make me sick.

Fred said...

I find it's hard to get an objective view of the events. The owner of the dog fails to talk about the seriousness of the attack and the RCMP, well, these days, post Dziekanski, it's kind of hard to believe what they say (and I am not an RCMP basher by any means) especially the ones in B.C. I wish other witnesses were better interviewed.

Should the RCMP have had better training protocol? Yes. Should the owner have had better recall of his dog? Yes. If either side had taken better precautions, this wouldn't have happened but my feeling is that the onus of the responsibility lies with the RCMP in that they were the ones who were in the wrong place and they were the ones who used deadly force when they should have been better prepared for situations like this - especially if they are going to continue trespassing unannounced on people's property.

Can you imagine if this happened in Rosedale or Baby Point?

Whoever is guilty, though, one dog is injured, possibly seriously, while another dog is dead. One dog was put into a dangerous situation by its human handlers while the other dog felt threatened by an invading group of trespassers. This is a no-win for everyone.

Joanne said...

First of all, a police services dog is considered a law enforcement officer..an attack on that dog carries the same penalty as an attack on a human officer. I would have shot her myself if she had hold of my dog and was suffocating it. She is obviously dangerous and dog-aggressive if her owner cannot control her or recall her and I doubt this is the first time she has attacked another dog. Her owner's excuse was that she acted as any dog would if another person or dog stepped on his property. Well-behaved dogs do not attack people or other dogs coming on their property. I don't believe everything that the RCMP say either but there are a lot more questions here to be answered by the owner. Why was his dog outside unsupervised in what appears to be an unfenced area and why was he not there to separate the dogs? Why did the police have to try and separate the dogs...where was he when his dog was outside. Anyone here want to try stepping in to seperate a dog fight between two fair sized dogs? I wonder if the dog was spayed and up to date on her shots? The owner's negligence got his dog killed. If he had her under control or in a fenced area, this in all likelihood would have not happened.

Anonymous said...

Your'e damn right 'the onus of responsibility lies with the RCMP'. I would be hysterical if it were my dog. I basically agree with everything the owner said. Yes, the dog was not leashed but he was in his own backyard. The guy probably thought they would be in & out in a few minutes and he had no clue the RCMP was right there in his neighbour's yard because they did not warn anybody.
Why is the RCMP conducting training exercises in a neighbourhood, in someone's backyard, where children live, where there are other dogs??? They're the RCMP.. do they not have their own premises to do this? As the owner said, why was pepper spray not used? Just BANG your'e dead! No apology...no explanation...nothing. It's 'just a dog' and on top of that it's 'just a pitbull' and 'just another run down neighbourhood' so we can do whatever we want here. Disgusting. Someone needs to lose their job over this.

Anonymous said...

Well, well, it looks like the season of 'good will towards men' really is over. Why would Joanne 'wonder' if the pitbull was spayed and up to date on shots? What does that have to do with this particular situation? Yes, I know all dogs should be spayed/neutered and utd on shots...yes, I know the dog should have a fenced in backyard... but as the owner said times are tough. Looks like the RCMP aren't the only ones who think low income families don't have any rights. Look, I'm not saying the guy didn't make mistakes...all I know is, I watched the video, I saw the little boy crying in the window because his dog was dead, I saw the dog lying on the ground with a bullet hole in her and I just think there could be a little more compassion here for a family that just lost their dog in such a brutal fashion, that's all.

borderjack said...

Joanne, I disagree that the "owner's negligence got his dog killed."

Even with what little we know, the RCMP put two dogs in outright danger.

What reasonable excuse could they have had to enter private property WITHOUT NOTICE and WITHOUT CONSENT in absence of a call for help or complaint? That's indefensible and you should be outraged, because that's a trespass that could happen to you and shouldn't be tolerated.

I get nervous on the odd occasion that I'm stopped for an alleged traffic violation. I can't imagine for a moment what it would be like to be in the peace of my home see uniformed and geared-up cops with dogs charging onto my property. My dogs are well behaved, but they bark at strangers who come in. So I take precautions when repair people, for example, or contractors, come in. With notice, maybe Fendi's (I think that was her name) owner would have had a chance to do the same.

If a police dog is considered a law enforcement officer, then those officers owed their "partner" better.

Marcie said...

I am om the same page as borderjack here.

There are rules in place that keep people safe, the dog being aggressive or not is beyond the point. Being spayed and up to date on her shots has nothing to do with the police trespassing on someone property where the family pet was minding it's own business, and the family dog is now dead.

Should the dog of reacted aggressively? No. Can I say that defending it's property is a normal reaction to a large group of strangely dressed men with dogs? maybe I can. I wouldn't give a %100 vote of confidence that my dog would let a group of strange men w/ dogs onto my property without trying to defend it. She's not aggressive at all but that's a very unnatural situation. G-d I'd like to think she'd want to keep us safe from a very unusual & possibly dangerous situation.

My dog is 9 years old & the only fight she was ever in was when she was attacked by 2 large dogs. At no point when they were attacking her did I think "I want to shoot these dogs" Killing either of the dogs was not a thought in my head, I was too concerned with trying to keep my dog out of harms way. I was pissed at the owner of the dogs but not at the dogs.

The RCMP's negligence got his dog killed. If they had followed proper procedure & let the owners of the property know that they were going to do training exercise in their back yard then this in all likelihood would have not happened.

Heather Houlahan said...

The mounties don't have pepper spray? Tasers? They have to go right for the gun?

Elizabeth said...

Let me get this right. there was a proffesional dog handler and he could not break up a simple dog fight? He had to shoot the dog? You have to be kidding me. Sounds like the handler needs more training.

I'm 5'1 and 121 pounds and when my 13 year old dog was attacked by two bullmastiffs, I got into the middle of it and tore the dogs off with my bare hands. Yea i kicked and screamed alittle aswell, but I got those two dogs off my dog without having to use a bullet. My dog did need some vet care, but in the end all three dogs were alive.

Yes this was a bad all around situation, and the owner should of had his dog contained, but shooting the terrier was never a must. Either this handler took the easy way out or he is not well trained in his proffesion and if that is the case I would be scared, no horrified, to have him on the streets of my city with a police dog.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Heather. We do know they have tasers because they tasered that guy to death in an airport a few years ago. Clearly the RCMP has a good handle on when to use deadly force.

Chris said...

First off, the owners story has changed numerous times in this event. In the first report I saw he said he just let his dog out and was sitting in his living room. Then as this story got bigger, and he saw a chance for a lawsuit, he then says he was outside with his dog and was tying up his shoe! Give me a break! The RCMP, actually it was an Abbotsford City Police with a RCMP guy with him, were crossing a neighbours yard when this crazy dog attacked their dog. Those dogs are thought of like regular police officers, they are even given badges, so to see their dog being grabbed at the throat by this other dog they shot the other dog. Good on them! Think if this was you walking by with your pet......or child.