Cop Dog Killers: March 2014

Alabama Cop Shoots Two Family Dogs, Kills One And Injures Second

By Khier Casino

An Alabama police officer shot two dogs, killing one and injuring a second, after entering a closed backyard while searching for trespassers.

Mark and Lynn Yeager, of Mobile, Ala., buried one of their dogs after seeing the officer shoot him in their yard, FOX10tv.com reports.

“I understand that they’re trying to do their job. My dog was trying to do his job and there has to be a happy medium,” said Mark Yeager. “I don’t think they used good common sense.”

According to police, officials apprehended two individuals near Murphy High School who ultimately fled. Officers say they were pursuing the suspects and eventually went into the Yeager’s yard, awakening the two pets who they say were aggressive toward the officers.

“I saw the policeman backing up with his gun pointed – heard two shots,” said Yeager. “I went ballistic. I mean I couldn’t believe it. He lay there about 15 minutes and I sat there and petted him and talked to him till he died.”

Kevin Kelly has been identified as the Mobile Police Department officer who fatally shot the homeowner’s dog, according to LagniappeMobile.com.

Mobile police and Internal Affairs both responded, and investigations are being conducted into the shooting of Yeager’s dogs.

The other dog, Bovidea, was shot in the ear. The Yeager’s are focusing on the surviving dog’s recovery.

"Common sense will tell you to knock on the door of the residence and let them know that there was some people running around that could be dangerous. If they had done that then at that point in time I would have told them never to come into my backyard or I could've got the dogs inside where they belong in their kennels, and everything would have been fine," Yeager told local CBS affiliate WKRG-TV.

The Yeagers are not happy with what police are telling them and they are left with questions they want answered. They intend to write a letter to the city councilman and the Mobile Police Chief.

According to FOX10 News, police eventually arrested the suspects.

Friend says police shooting of dogs unwarranted

By B.J. Williams Editor

Phantom is the 2-year-old male dog shot and killed Monday by Toccoa police

TOCCOA - A Lavonia woman who is a part-owner of one of the dogs shot and killed by Toccoa police on Monday said the shooting of the animals was uncalled for.

Cindy Smith said in an interview Thursday the two dogs - who were pit bulls - were gentle animals. She and her husband breed pit bulls, and have done so for about 15 years, and she said the young dogs killed Monday were two that she had raised from pups.

She believes the only reason Phantom, the male dog, and Tsunami, the female, attacked a neighbor's dog was because the smaller animal came onto an enclosed front porch where the pit bulls lived. Smith said she knows the dogs were in a secured area at the time of the incident.

"Their front porch has a railing around it as well as a gate on the front porch that has to be opened from the inside," said Smith. "The neighbor's dog, who was not contained - and he does not have a fence - his dog wandered onto their property onto the porch...and it was eating their dogs' food."

Thus, said Smith, the two pit bulls protected their property.

Smith said when her friend, whom she chose not to name, arrived home for lunch, Toccoa police had already shot and killed both dogs. Smith said she thinks the officers overreacted.

"They [the police] should have sat in their car because the dogs were on their property. They should have waited until the owners got home to take care of the matter instead of shooting the dogs."

Toccoa Police Chief Tim Jarrell said in a statement that the officers fired on the two dogs when the animals failed to respond to voice commands to stop attacking the smaller dog. He said the officers reported the two animals charged at them. (See link to earlier story below.)

The owners of Phantom and Tsunami face several charges from animal control officers, and Smith said she doesn't feel that's fair, especially since the owner of the smaller dog that wandered onto the porch faces no charges for his pet roaming free.

"I feel like they [police] shot because of what they are [pit bulls]," said Smith. "If it had been a lab or a retriever or any other kind of breed, I think they would have done anything in their power to not have to shoot the animals."

Smith said she isn't sure if her friends will try to register any kind of complaint against the Toccoa Police Department, but she said her goal in speaking out was simply to tell the other side of the story. She said if her friends do wind up going to court, she plans to organize a rally to support them.

"If and when they have a court date, if these charges do not get dropped...I'm hoping to get enough people to come to the courthouse with their pit bulls to do kind of like a peaceful protest to raise awareness that these dogs are being portrayed as something they're not."

Family says El Paso police officer shoots their three-legged dog

By: Stacey Welsh

EL PASO, Texas -- An east El Paso family said an officer from the El Paso Police Department shot their pit bull when responding to their home last week.

Owner Deborah Hawthorne said she doesn't understand why an officer would shoot at her dog, Gracie, because she was already missing a leg after being hit by a car. Gracie did survive the shooting.

"She's handicapped. She's not a threat. She can't charge really. She never has charged," Hawthorne said.

Hawthorne said this all started when her husband got into an argument with someone else earlier that night. Because she said her husband was holding a knife, that person reported it to the police.

She said she is also upset the shooting happened in front of her 11-year-old daughter.

"When [the police officer] discharged that weapon, it ricochet off the concrete and the house. It almost went through my daughter's legs. It was right there at the door so she could have been hit," Hawthorne said.

Hawthorne said two officers responded to her home, and one fired at Gracie. The shot hit her in her only back paw.

"I saw the officer in the yard. He was off in an angle to the house in the shadows. I saw a flash and the smoke come up and that's when I saw Gracie crawling toward me," Hawthorne said.

She also said the officers did not identify themselves.

"I asked them at least five times what their names were and what their badge numbers were. They did not talk to me. They refused to tell me anything about my husband," Hawthorne said.

The El Paso Police Department said it won't comment on the case now because it's still under investigation.

"As in all cases where an El Paso police officer discharges their weapon, these cases are thoroughly investigated by the Department’s Shooting Review Team. This case is assigned to the Internal Affairs Division," El Paso Police Department spokesman Detective Darrel Petry said in a statement.

Hawthorne said she also plans to file charges against the Police Department.

Cop Dog Killers

Alabama Cop Shoots Two Family Dogs, Kills One And Injures Second

Friend says police shooting of dogs unwarranted

Family says El Paso police officer shoots their three-legged dog

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