Dog owner upset after police shoot and kill Pit Bull

By Dan Lampariello

MILAN, Tenn. -- A pit bull shot and killed in Milan on Monday is stirring up controversy.

Police say the dog was vicious, but the dog's owner, Andrew Newtson, says the police officer who shot his dog could have went about the situation in a different way.

Newtson says rather than killing the dog, the officer could have waited for animal control to respond.

"I would understand if my dog had someone pinned up against the house or he was mauling someone," Newtson said. "Yes, shoot my dog. I'd rather a human being have their life than my dog."

Milan Police say they were called to the home because the dog had charged someone on the street.

"The dog displayed itself in an aggressive manner," Milan Police Chief Bobby Sellers said. "[It was] showing its teeth, growling, and started toward him and then he had to shoot the dog."

Newtson says his dog has never done anything like this before.

"I can take him anywhere," Newtson said. "I've taken him to my neighbors, they've pet him. Two or three times a week I take him for walks. I let kids pet him."

Witness to the event Mary Dennie says the dog was ready to attack when police arrived.

"The police shot that dog right there at the mailbox," Dennie said. "Because that dog was after them."

Chief Sellers says he would have shot the dog as well if he was in the same position.

"I stand behind him 100 percent," Chief Sellers said. "I've been in that situation when a dog was trying to attack me and I've had to use my pistol to defend myself."

Another witness at the scene said the dog was just defending his territory and the police officer used excessive force.

Milan police have not been called to any incidents involving this dog before.

They have cited the dog's owner for owning a vicious dog and he is set to appear in court July 2.

Cop Shoots Dog In East Moline, Investigation Underway

The Rock Island County sheriff's office says it will take a look into a complaint of animal cruelty against one of its deputies.

The office confirms a deputy shot a dog in East Moline and neighbors are upset. The aftermath was caught on camera by a viewer who shared the video with us.

Shelby Gosa says her step-mother called 9-1-1 after two rottweilers were trying to attack their neighbor's rabbits. She says the first dog got into the deputy's squad car without any problems and she went inside her home, thinking the second one would do the same.

A few minutes later she says she heard a gunshot.

"The dog got about as far as the passenger side door and collapsed and began to bleed profusely everywhere," she said.

Shelby says both dogs were very friendly when they approached her outside. The sheriff's office says the deputy shot the dog because it became aggressive.

Both dogs were taken to the animal shelter. It's unclear whether the one who got shot died on the scene or at the shelter.

Ardmore officer charged with poisoning domestic animals enters plea

By: Lauren Smith

ARDMORE, OK -- An Ardmore police officer, accused of killing his neighbor's dogs, was in court Wednesday.

An Ardmore woman who lives in the Hickory Ridge Addition claims in April, her pet schnauzer was one of several dogs that were poisoned by neighbor and Ardmore police officer, Barry Antwine.

She said, "I think there were mixed emotions, just sad to watch her suffer and be so sick and not really know why"

In May, Antwine was charged with "laying out poison for domestic animals" for allegedly putting antifreeze in a bowl on his property with the intent of killing his neighbors' dogs.

The woman said, "This is a safe neighborhood. It's been a great place for us to live and so I hated to have to lose her that way"

She says she never purposefully let her dog roam the neighborhood out of sight.

She added, "I have little kids so if they leave the door open and she might would run out but never just out all day to wander, you know, she was inside and we kept her inside but occasionally she'd get out, but she definitely wasn't an outside dog."

Carter County District Attorney Craig Ladd said, "It's a misdemeanor offense here in Oklahoma and his case has been set for disposition docket on August the 5th at 2 o'clock"

Ladd says Antwine is maintaining not guilty at this time and Antwine's involvement in the police department will not play a role in the charges filed.

Ladd said "It really didn't factor into my thinking. I mean, I just reviewed the reports and try to make a decision based upon what we could prove and what I feel like the evidence supports."

The victim we spoke with says while her family pet cannot be replaced she chooses not harbor any resentment toward Antwine.

She said, "We as a family are forgiving people and we believe that grace and giving people second chances."

Ardmore Police Chief Ken Grace says Antwine remains on administrative leave pending the investigat

Cops Enter Home, Shoot Dog Dead, Rule It Justified

Adan Salazar

A family is upset the death of their long time companion at the hands of officers from the Round Rock, Texas, police department has been ruled justified.

Last Friday, Russell and Hope Lane didn’t close the door to their house properly, triggering their burglar alarm and a police response.

The Round Rock police chief and a commander entered the Lane’s home around 9am with weapons drawn and encountered their dog Bullet. That’s where the Lanes claim police have changed their story.

“When we first talked with captain Stuart he told us that his officer’s said Bullet stood up on the futon and lunged at them,” one of the dog’s owners wrote on a Facebook page dedicated to seeking Justice for Bullet. “Now since they’ve had time to get their story together it changed. Now bullet barked, growled, showed teeth three feet behind the officer. How did he get from the futon to three feet behind the officers?”

The Lanes say officers also failed to heed a sign hanging in their front door that read, “Rottweiler on duty,” along with a picture of a rottweiler.

On Wednesday, Round Rock Police concluded the shooting was justified. The Lanes say otherwise, and feel the amount of force used to stop Bullet was overkill.

“They’re not going to tell me that the officer fired seven shots at a dog because he had to,” Russell Lane told Fox 7. “They aren’t going to tell me he had to fire seven shots because you can hit a full grown man one time with a 40 caliber weapon, which that was what he was firing, and take him down.”

The Lanes are now prepared to take their fight to federal court, alleging violations of their Fourth Amendment.

“We are prepared to go to federal court 4th amendment violation. First they shouldn’t have ever entered the house with that sign in the window,” Russell told Fox 7.

Round Rock police also issued a statement declaring that prior to the “unfortunate event,” they were already looking at “additional training, purchasing equipment and reviewing current policies in dealing with aggressive animals. We have reviewed and selected a nationally recognized training program in dealing with aggressive animals. The training is currently taking place for all commissioned police officers.”

Two years ago, police in Austin, Round Rock’s neighbor to the south, also found it necessary to implement an additional training program so officers could better determine when it was appropriate to shoot animals. Austin police have shot about three dogs since that new training went into effect.

Colorado cop faces six years in prison for fatally shooting elk

by Brent McCluskey

A former Colorado police officer was found guilty Tuesday of illegally killing an elk last year that he says had become aggressive.

On Jan. 1, 2013, former Boulder police officer Sam Carter fatally shot “Big Boy,” a domesticated elk that had become a beloved member of the community. He was charged and recently found guilty on nine counts. Carter said the elk had become dangerously domesticated and was aggressive, but prosecutors said he killed it for the trophy aspect, NBC News reports.

According to Daily Mail, defense attorney Marc Colin defended his client, saying Carter was only trying to protect the public.

“Sam Carter is not guilty of anything but trying to protect the citizens of Boulder from a nuisance elk,” Colin said.

But according to Boulder County prosecutor Stanley Garnett, there was more to it than that. Garnett said Carter had turned off the GPS in his squad car before he shot Big Boy, then later falsified a tag that claimed the elk was road kill.

Carter also swapped text messages with a fellow officer about “hunting” for elk, texting one message that said, “He’s gonna die.”

Garnett said the community took the death of Big Boy hard, but added Carter’s covering it up was equally bad.

“The fact that somebody would use the uniform and badge of a police department in such a case was equally disturbing to the community,” Garnett said.

One person who frequently saw Big Boy, including the day he died, said the elk was completely docile.

“The day he was shot, I was walking at Eighth and Mapleton, and he was at a house eating leaves,” said Mary Lee Withers. “My dog barked at him. He looked at us, then turned back to eating leaves.”

According to ABC News, Carter was convicted of three felonies: forgery, tampering with evidence, and attempting to influence a public official. He was also convicted of six misdemeanors: misconduct, illegal possession of a trophy elk, conspiracy to commit illegal possession of wildlife, unlawfully taking a big game animal out of season, and unlawful use of an electronic communication device to unlawfully take wildlife.

Carter is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 29 and could face as much as six years in prison.

Louisiana police officer who shot Maine man’s dog charged with aggravated animal cruelty

By Abigail Curtis,

The former Louisiana officer accused of shooting and killing Arzy, a Maine man’s leashed dog, was indicted Thursday by a Calcasieu Parish Grand Jury on a felony charge of aggravated animal cruelty.

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Brian Thierbach, who resigned in May from his position as a police officer in the community of Sulphur, Louisiana, according to Holly Carter of the Calcasieu Parish District Attorney’s Office.

A judge has set Thierbach’s bail at $20,000, she said, adding that she did not know if he had turned himself in to authorities yet or if he has retained an attorney. Her office will be prosecuting the criminal case against the former police officer.

Alyson Antoon, the attorney for itinerant Portland musician Brandon Carpenter, said that the grand jury made a quick decision after holding a hearing.

“We’re very pleased. I’ve seen a lot of the evidence in this case, and from what I’ve seen, they definitely made the right decision,” she said. “The evidence was overwhelming.”

Carpenter said that he was handcuffed on the ground when Thierbach shot Arzy, his Labrador-Newfoundland-golden retriever mix, on the morning of April 28. The Maine musician and his friend, Logan Laliberte of Auburn, had hopped off a freight train in Sulphur and had climbed into an empty box truck in the local newspaper’s parking lot to sleep out of the rain when they were found by local police.

Thierbach told Carpenter that Arzy had nipped his foot, but an independent witness to the events told police that the dog had not attacked the officer.

An internal affairs investigation into Thierbach’s actions found that he had violated the Sulphur Police Department’s policies and procedures regarding the use of force, personal conduct and behavior. Police Chief Louis Coats said in a news release issued in May that he was a dog lover and was deeply saddened by the incident, and that Thierbach’s resignation was accepted so the officers and community can heal and move forward.

Carpenter has told the BDN that he plans to stay in Sulphur until justice has been done for Arzy, a dog he described as incredibly friendly and a big teddy bear. So far, his efforts to seek justice have attracted national attention, both in the media and on social networking sites like Facebook. Even actress and animal rights activist Kristen Johnston, who starred on the television show 3rd Rock From The Sun, has called for justice for Arzy on her blog.

A May rally at a park in Sulphur drew more than 100 people who came to support Carpenter and honor the life of his dog.

“[Thierbach] thought I was just a train-hopping punk, and he could shoot my dog and get away with it,” Carpenter said in a telephone interview in April. “You messed with the wrong traveler.”

Dog owner upset after police shoot and kill Pit Bull

By Dan Lampariello

MILAN, Tenn. -- A pit bull shot and killed in Milan on Monday is stirring up controversy.

Police say the dog was vicious, but the dog's owner, Andrew Newtson, says the police officer who shot his dog could have went about the situation in a different way.

Newtson says rather than killing the dog, the officer could have waited for animal control to respond.

"I would understand if my dog had someone pinned up against the house or he was mauling someone," Newtson said. "Yes, shoot my dog. I'd rather a human being have their life than my dog."

Milan Police say they were called to the home because the dog had charged someone on the street.

"The dog displayed itself in an aggressive manner," Milan Police Chief Bobby Sellers said. "[It was] showing its teeth, growling, and started toward him and then he had to shoot the dog."

Newtson says his dog has never done anything like this before.

"I can take him anywhere," Newtson said. "I've taken him to my neighbors, they've pet him. Two or three times a week I take him for walks. I let kids pet him."

Witness to the event Mary Dennie says the dog was ready to attack when police arrived.

"The police shot that dog right there at the mailbox," Dennie said. "Because that dog was after them."

Chief Sellers says he would have shot the dog as well if he was in the same position.

"I stand behind him 100 percent," Chief Sellers said. "I've been in that situation when a dog was trying to attack me and I've had to use my pistol to defend myself."

Another witness at the scene said the dog was just defending his territory and the police officer used excessive force.

Milan police have not been called to any incidents involving this dog before.

They have cited the dog's owner for owning a vicious dog and he is set to appear in court July 2. 

Police Officer Shoots Dog at Close Range

By Sarah Glover

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dog survived after being shot at close range by a police officer in Beverly, N.J. The dog was shot at more than once but did not die. It ran away despite being injured.

A YouTube video shows an officer pointing a gun at the dog and shooting it multiple times. The video is disturbing and NBC10.com has chosen not to post it.

The man who posted the video said to his knowledge the dog was not aggressive but police tried to calm the dog when it became agitated. He and his friends tried to corral it before it was shot.

Rich Wolbert, public safety director in Beverly, issued a statement on behalf of the Beverly Police Department, which is investigating the incident.

Officers from Beverly, Edgewater Park, and Delanco Police Departments responded to

a call of a vicious dog at 245 Warren Street at approximately 11:20 a.m. on the morning of June 5, according to the statement.

When the officers arrived, they found a woman's finger had been amputated by the dog. The canine was found behind a building on Perkins Street.

Police say the dog came toward the officers in an "aggressive manner and the animal was shot multiple times."

After chasing its tail, as seen in the video, the dog ran from the scene to the 600 block of Elizabeth Street where it was retrieved. The dog was then taken for veterinary treatment and transported to the Burlington County Animal Shelter.

The injured woman was transported to Lourdes Medical Center in Willingboro. The dog is being observed at the shelter. NBC10.com reached out to the shelter. There's no word on the present status of the dog.

Ardmore police officer charged with poisoning domestic animals

ARDMORE, OK -- A sergeant with the Ardmore Police Department has been charged with poisoning domestic animals.

According to court papers filed Wednesday, Barry Antwine faces a misdemeanor charge of laying out poison for domestic animals.

Antwine allegedly put out antifreeze in a bowl on his property. Charges state he did so with the intent of poisoning his neighbors' dogs.

He's set to appear in court on June 11th.

Cops enter home on false alarm shoot house dog SEVEN TIMES …SEVEN TIMES

ROUND ROCK -- Two officers shot and killed a dog Friday after responding to a home alarm, according to the Round Rock Police Department.

Around 9 a.m. two officers went to a home in the 1700 block of Parkside Circle in Round Rock after the home's alarm system went off. When officers arrived they found an open door and decided to enter the residence.

After shouting that police were in the home and other verbal warnings, police searched the home. While searching the home, they came across a 120 pound Rottweiler.

Police considered the dog aggressive, and the dog made threatening actions towards the officers, police say.

One officer fired once, and another office fired six times. The dog was pronounced dead at the scene.

There were no sings of a burglary or indications of a forced entry, police say.

A commander with RRPD met at the police station with the home owner later in the day to explain the officers' actions.

Police, dog's owners at odds after officer shoots dog

By Dal Kalsi -

SIMPSONVILLE, SC (FOX Carolina) -

The Simpsonville police chief said an officer was forced to shoot a large dog that threatened him while responding to a complaint call about the animal, but the dog's owners claim the shooting should not have happened.

Chief Keith Grounsell said the officer was responding to a call on Hudders Creek Way around 9 a.m. Monday when the shooting occurred.

Police received a call about a large rottweiler mix that was roaming the neighborhood and intimidating residents, Grounsell said.

Grounsell said this was the second call within 24 hours that officers had received about the dog.

"On Sunday morning, we received a call after the dog lunged at a jogger and actually knocked her down, causing some small abrasions," Grounsell said. "Luckily, a neighbor with a cane was able to quickly reach the woman and scare the dog away."

When the officer arrived on Monday morning, the dog immediately began barking and growling at him, Grounsell said, and when the officer began walking toward the house where the 911 call had been placed, the dog began to charge at him.

Grounsell said the officer was able to get a hand on his baton and swung it at the dog, but the baton only further infuriated the dog.

At that point, for his own safety, the officer managed to unholster his weapon and fired on the animal four times, Grounsell said. The dog was later put to sleep

"As police officers, we never want to shoot anything," Grounsell said. "In this case, this was the second time the dog lunged at someone on that street within a 24-hour period, and I'm glad that it was my officer who knew how to defend himself rather than a child."

The dog's owner, Blake Davenport, said the dog's name was "Bella," and Davenport  thinks Bella didn't need to be shot multiple times.

"I think that was a little excessive," Davenport said. "Especially for (the officer) to not actually kill it."

Bella's brother belongs to one of Davenport's friends in the neighborhood, Hunter Armstrong, who said Bella was not a vicious animal.

"There's not an aggressive hair on the dog and it's been living here for well over two years and never hurt a fly, never hurt anyone," Armstrong said.

Grounsell said he was sorry the dog was killed, but that the officer made the right choice.

"It's very unfortunate anytime you need to take the life of anything," Grounsell said. "I'm an animal lover myself. I have three dogs, and the officer involved, he is an animal lover. He didn't want to have to do this,but he did not have a choice at that time."

Grounsell said no charges would be filed against the owners since the dog died during the response.

Family wants Wheeling police officer fired after dog shooting

WHEELING, W.Va. – More than two weeks after a police officer shot and killed its dog, a family remains outraged.

While police continue to investigate exactly what happened on a street in East Wheeling a few weeks ago, where a German Shepherd was shot and killed by a Wheeling police officer, protestors said they won't stop making a stand for justice until they see that officer removed from his position.

“We have over 3,000 signatures that have signed the petition for Officer (Kyle) Mull to be removed from the police department,” protester Tisha Terry said.

As more people visit change.org to sign that petition for Shadow, the family that owned the German Shepherd protested in front of the City County Building holding up signs Monday.

The dog was allegedly deemed vicious by the city in April 2013, but people who knew the dog say he was harmless.

The dog was shot and killed when police said they were flagged down by a person who reported they were being chased in an aggressive manner by the dog. The owners claim their dog was never aggressive.

“Part of my family is laying on the ground with two bullets in his head for no reason,” dog owner Donna Terry said. “That dog has never bit anybody. It was 5 years old. I've trained German Shepherds for 30 years."

The police officer who shot the dog also has protestors questioning his Twitter updates, pointing out to one that said, “i really wish it wasn’t frowned upon to kill your dog.”

Wheeling Police Department officials said they are thoroughly investigating the incident in a process they call the Officer of Professional Standards Review

“We take it seriously,” Wheeling Police Department Chief Shawn Schwertfeger said. “We hope to learn from incidents like this so I'm just waiting to see what the final outcome is."

In the meantime, police said their investigation is almost complete. We’ll be sure to bring you the latest as this story continues to unfold.

Woman Files Complaint After Police Shoot And Kill Dog

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A 21-year-old recent Ohio State graduate filed a complaint against Columbus Police. She says Columbus Police wrongfully shot and killed her Labrador pit-bull mix.  It's a dog she considered part of the family.

Police claim they acted in self-defense as they were trying to execute an arrest warrant against her boyfriend for domestic violence.

A charge, she says she now wishes she could wipe away because when police moved in, her dog, Nala, became an unintended target.

"When I came to the door, I cracked it like this and looked out, then Nala came beside me and stuck her nose out here," said victim, Cartier Townsend.

"They said put your dog away. I will shoot your dog. Those two statements. That is all that they said to me," said Townsend.

A spokesperson for Columbus police tells 10TV the officers, at the time, told her to secure the dog.

"I tried to put her away and even when she ran out of her cage, I told them, don't shoot her. She's not going to try to bite you guys," said Townsend.

Police say, after they repeatedly told her to close the cage, Townsend jumped in the officer's way and the dog ran toward them growling.

The police spokesperson says the officers felt threatened, so they first deployed a taser and then fired with a gun.

"There's no reason she should be in a body bag right now. There's no reason she shouldn't be out there playing outside," said Townsend.

Neighbors say the commotion woke them up.

"One of them said that he was going to kill that ***** dog," said neighbor, Jim McNutt.

"Didn't hear any barking or any yelling from the inside, just the yelling of the cops. The male voices saying, 'We're going to break down your f'n door. Control your f'n dog,'" said neighbor, Katie Knotts.

Concerning statements, to the recent OSU grad, who so badly wishes she had her dog back.

"None of this would have happened if they just let me put her away," said Cartier. "There was nothing I could do. There was nothing I could do to help her."

Police ended up arrested her boyfriend early that morning. 

There is an internal review of the officer, who fired the gun, as is protocol within the department anytime an officer fires a gun. There is also a review after Townsend filed her complaint.

Anderson family upset after police shoot, kill pet dog

By Diana Watson

ANDERSON, SC (FOX Carolina) -

An Anderson family is angry after the death of their pit bull. The dog, named Cream, was shot and killed by Anderson police, who arrived at their home to investigate a stolen cell phone.

Police tell FOX Carolina they were forced to shoot the dog to protect themselves.

Adrien Best, who had two adults, three teens and three young children at her home Monday evening on East Franklin Street, said she heard the shots. She was inside the house when one of her sons told her police were pulling up the driveway.

She said by the time she reached the front door, she heard two shots fired. She said she was immediately worried about her children playing outside. Then she realized one of her family's dogs had been shot by officers.

"I tried to gather the kids up to put them in the house because apparently you're not safe outside with officers where we should be because they're protecting and serve," Best said. "If you show up with a gun and you're irate, then you're not protecting me so I did not feel safe."

Within moments, she found out why police were at her house. They were investigating a cell phone stolen from T.L. Hanna High School. The report was initiated by the school's resource officer, who is an Anderson County deputy.

The phone had been tracked by GPS to Best's house and was being carried by a friend of her son's, who told her he had found it at school. The school resource officer called for back-up from Anderson police because the East Franklin Street is in the city. A spokesman for the Anderson County Sheriff's Office said the resource officer was not on scene yet when the dog was shot.

FOX Carolina called the Anderson Police Department, who provided an incident report of the dog shooting. It was written by Officer Joseph Chapman.

Part of the report said, "A brown and white large dog charged myself and Captain Aman. Officers did draw duty issue weapons and felt in fear that the dog was going to attack, due to the threatening manner it was coming at officers. Captain Aman did shoot the dog with one shot, at which time the dog went into some bushes and was not a threat."

But the family gave a different story, calling their dog a gentle giant. Adrian Gaines, one of Best's sons, was in the driveway when he saw officers arrive and witnessed the shooting.

"The dog didn't bark, show any teeth, it didn't rush them, didn't growl or anything," Gaines said. "Once he shot him the first time, I'm sure he was scared and that's how he got up in the bushes and he ran up in the bushes and that's when you shoot him again. He's in the bushes bleeding already and you shoot him again."

The shooting of the dog was witnessed by four children, including a 13-year-old named Jeremiah. He cried for hours after the dog was killed. He and others in the family want to know why this happened.

"He was a good dog," Jeremiah said. "He didn't deserve to die. They shouldn't have shot him. There was no point to it."

Now, the family plans to file a formal complaint with Anderson police.

In the meantime, the department indicates they did what they had to do to make sure their officers were safe. They said because the dog was not in a fence or tethered, there was no option.

For Jeremiah, that's not good enough, saying, "Something needs to happen. You can't just do that and get away with it."

Woman Files Complaint After Police Shoot And Kill Dog

By Danielle Elias

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A 21-year-old recent Ohio State graduate filed a complaint against Columbus Police. She says Columbus Police wrongfully shot and killed her Labrador pit-bull mix.  It's a dog she considered part of the family.

Police claim they acted in self-defense as they were trying to execute an arrest warrant against her boyfriend for domestic violence.

A charge, she says she now wishes she could wipe away because when police moved in, her dog, Nala, became an unintended target.

"When I came to the door, I cracked it like this and looked out, then Nala came beside me and stuck her nose out here," said victim, Cartier Townsend.

"They said put your dog away. I will shoot your dog. Those two statements. That is all that they said to me," said Townsend.

A spokesperson for Columbus police tells 10TV the officers, at the time, told her to secure the dog.

"I tried to put her away and even when she ran out of her cage, I told them, don't shoot her. She's not going to try to bite you guys," said Townsend.

Police say, after they repeatedly told her to close the cage, Townsend jumped in the officer's way and the dog ran toward them growling.

The police spokesperson says the officers felt threatened, so they first deployed a taser and then fired with a gun.

"There's no reason she should be in a body bag right now. There's no reason she shouldn't be out there playing outside," said Townsend.

Neighbors say the commotion woke them up.

"One of them said that he was going to kill that ***** dog," said neighbor, Jim McNutt.

"Didn't hear any barking or any yelling from the inside, just the yelling of the cops. The male voices saying, 'We're going to break down your f'n door. Control your f'n dog,'" said neighbor, Katie Knotts.

Concerning statements, to the recent OSU grad, who so badly wishes she had her dog back.

"None of this would have happened if they just let me put her away," said Cartier. "There was nothing I could do. There was nothing I could do to help her."

Police ended up arrested her boyfriend early that morning. 

There is an internal review of the officer, who fired the gun, as is protocol within the department anytime an officer fires a gun. There is also a review after Townsend filed her complaint.

Woman sues for $1.35 million after off-duty cop fatally shoots her puppy

 by Brent McCluskey

A Chicago woman has filed a lawsuit seeking $1.35 million in damages nearly a year after an off-duty police officer fatally shot her puppy.

On March 15, 2013, Samantha Maglaya’s 5-year-old daughter was in their front yard playing with Maximus, their 4-month-old pitbull, when an off-duty police officer shot the dog eight times in the chest, killing it, the NBC affiliate reports.

The officer claimed the dog was aggressively charging towards his 5-year-old son, but Maglaya says that never happened and believes her dog’s death was a conspiracy. She filed a 22-count lawsuit against the city, as well as several law enforcement officers.

The officer who shot Maximus said he was just protecting his son, and if the dog had been properly leashed, the whole situation could have been avoided.

“It’s supposed to be on a leash. If that dog is on a leash, this never happens,” the officer said. “[My son] wanted to ride his bike. So he’s riding down the sidewalk. As I’m walking down the street the dog comes out of the gangway charging at him.”

But Magaya’s lawsuit paints a darker picture and accuses the officer of lying about the incident. She claims Maximus never chased a child on a bike, because the officer’s child wasn’t there in the first place. She says Maximus was running around their front yard, wagging his tail, when the officer opened fire not more than 10 feet away from her daughter.

Magaya believes the officer shot Maximus because of her race and because he didn’t want a pitbull in the neighborhood, and said two other officers who live on her block lied on the officer’s behalf.

The 22-count lawsuit against Chicago and the officer involved in the shooting and those in the subsequent cover up includes a slew of charges, including excessive force, aggravated cruelty to animals, hate crimes against Maglaya and her daughter, and trespassing, among others.

She is seeking a total of $1.35 million in damages.

Another Day, Another Cop Shoots a Dog

It's time to teach the police some new tricks.

A. Barton Hinkle |

A police officer chasing a suspect entered Bianca Alakson's fenced-in backyard the other day. When her 10-month-old Labrador-mix puppy ran toward the Redford Township, Ohio, officer, he shot the dog twice, killing it. Alakson's boyfriend, Ryan Showalter, ran outside and demanded to know why. He was arrested for interfering with an investigation.

"I asked him why," Showalter said. "And he said, 'Because he was in our way.' I was breaking down hysterically in the back seat of the cop car, crying. I didn't know what to do."

This wasn't long after Cole Middleton, a resident of Raines County, Texas, called the police to report that his house had been burgled. When an officer arrived Middleton's dog started barking. According to news reports, "the deputy claimed the dog was about to bite him and shot the dog to defend himself. … Middleton says the dog was shot in the head. He begged the deputy to finish off his cowdog named Candy since the dog was suffering."

"I was so upset," Middleton told KLTV-7 News. "I went over there to her and she was still alive and I begged and pleaded with him to please shoot her again because I don't have any firearms. They got stolen. He went and got in his vehicle and backed out of my driveway.

"And then I had to do the unthinkable. … I had to kill my dog with my bare hands and put her out of her suffering, praying for this to be over with," Middleton said.

Those are just two of many cases in which police officers have killed family pets recently and without any apparent justification. There have been countless others. Police entered a back yard in Mobile, Alabama, encountered a dog, and shot it. A Tehachapi, California, officer saw a dog run toward him while he was performing routine code enforcement checks. "He just pulled out his gun and boom, boom, boom," reported a witness. An officer responding to a complaint about a moving van in the street in Columbus, Ohio, shot a dog nine times after it growled at him. And in Filer, Idaho, an officer shot a dog whose owner was throwing his 9-year-old son a birthday party. You can watch the dash-cam video (warning: strong content and language) by Googling "officer shoots dog at boy’s birthday party."

In most such cases, what happens afterward is: nothing. The police department says it will investigate the shooting, and then the incident disappears into a circular file or a black hole. Not always: The Texas officer who shot Middleton's dog was fired. But the police department in Filer decided officer Tarek Hassani was justified in using deadly force against a family pet.

Fortunately, some police departments have begun training officers in how to read animal behavior. Most dogs that feel threatened don't run toward the perceived threat, for instance—they run away. "An approaching dog is almost always friendly," according to a Justice Department report, "The Problem of Dog-Related Incidents and Encounters." Here in Virginia some departments do a better job than others. But the commonwealth has not passed a law requiring such training, as Colorado has.

Meanwhile, public pressure to protect dogs is mounting. Filer residents were so upset by its department's decision that some launched a recall effort to unseat the mayor and the entire city council. A Kickstarter campaign has raised more than $45,000 for the documentary Puppycide.

"When we first learned about puppycide," the filmmakers write, "we assumed that these must be cases of police responding to threats on their lives from dogs trained to attack by criminal owners. That couldn't be further from the truth. We found scores of videos and news stories about dogs who were laying down, tails wagging, even running away but still shot by officers who used lethal force as their first and only response."

Nobody wants to see police officers—already underpaid and underappreciated—get hurt in the line of duty. What people object to is the gratuitous slaughter of pets that pose no threat. Officers couldn't shoot children with such impunity, and many pet owners love their animals almost as much as their kids.

That shouldn't be surprising. A special bond between people and dogs has developed over thousands of years of domestication.

Recent work by Hungarian researchers has shown that dogs can read emotion in human voices and, as The Washington Post reported the other day, "other studies have revealed that dogs yawn when they see humans yawning and that they nuzzle and lick people who are crying; scientists consider both behaviors displays of empathy, a rarely documented trait in the animal kingdom."

If dogs can read other species' behavior signals and show empathy toward them, then surely police officers should be able to as well.

Esther Cepeda: Dogs and the warrior cops

If Radley Balko is right, it may be the dog lovers of America who touched off a movement to rein in the strong-arm tactics that have accompanied the militarization of the country's police forces.

By Esther Cepeda

If Radley Balko is right, it may be the dog lovers of America who touched off a movement to rein in the strong-arm tactics that have accompanied the militarization of the country’s police forces.

Balko, who writes The Washington Post’s “The Watch” blog on criminal justice issues, says that police these days too frequently shoot people’s pets when making a raid, and people are becoming fed up.

I recently read Balko’s book, “Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces,” after spending some time in a firearms class. In that class was a retired policeman who firmly subscribed to the “us vs. them” mentality Balko so vividly illustrates.

Starting with a history of law enforcement, Balko follows its tenuous flirtation with the norms and practices of the armed forces to today’s proliferation of S.W.A.T.-like local police departments. He provides a painful history of the progression from President Richard Nixon’s War on Drugs through the decades-long erosion of private citizens’ rights to have their homes treated as sanctuary from violence to the all-too-common “collateral damage” incidents that dot our news feeds.

No one, and no political party, is spared from a scathing critique of the wisdom of soldiering-up local police officers and making violent, highly militarized raids everyday occurrences. Notably, Balko’s sources are less often the innocent victims of botched raids, accidental shootings, wrong-address nighttime blitzes and flash-bomb takedowns — or their advocates — though their stories come through clearly.

Mostly, the voices of those speaking out about the dangers of invade-and-conquer law enforcement are of professionals in the field who either carried out militarization programs themselves or tried, in vain, to keep brute force — and its accompanying mindset — from encroaching on their beloved profession.

Balko provides seemingly endless examples of state-sanctioned violence and paramilitary-style policing even as he fairly portrays the danger that law enforcement officials have to deal with in their demanding jobs. It cannot be said enough that “Rise of the Warrior Cop” is in no way a partisan, overly emotional or pacifist anti-police screed — but learning how calloused we’ve all become to this type of enforcement stopped me cold.

Balko cites anecdotal evidence among his network of law enforcement researchers and educators showing that too often people calmly accept that unwarranted violations of privacy and violent tactics are appropriate for “bad guys,” murderers and drug dealers, even their wives and children. But they get very angry when they hear about pets being harmed and routinely killed.

“At first, that may seem to indicate that people callously value the lives of pets more than the lives of people,” Balko writes. “But the fact that killing the dog during these raids has become nearly routine in many police agencies demonstrates just how casually those agencies have come to accept drug war collateral damage. When I started logging cop-shoots-dog incidents on my blog (under the probably sensational term ‘puppycide’), people began sending me new stories as they happened. Cops are now shooting dogs at the slightest provocation. As of this writing, I’m sent accounts of a few incidents each week.”

The public outcry about pets as collateral damage has actually gotten a handful of police departments to mandate training, Balko writes. He quotes Russ Jones, a former narcotics officer with the San Jose Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Agency: “I don’t understand it at all. I guess somewhere along the line a cop shot a dog under questionable circumstances and got away with it. Word got out, and now it seems like some cops are just looking for reasons to take a shot at a dog. Maybe it just comes down to that — we can get away with it, therefore we do it.”

If Balko gets one point across, it’s that the days of law enforcement getting away with strong-arm and often deadly tactics in the name of maintaining safety and order are coming to an end.

The proliferation of mobile phones with cameras, video that can be remotely streamed directly to the Internet and the instantaneous sharing of both through social media are making it so that evidence of law enforcement overreach can be preserved as proof.

But first, we have to be aware that these instances of overly harsh tactics affect innocent, law-abiding citizens — not just the canine kind — and we can no longer afford to accept our civil rights getting so blithely trampled.