Police in California shoot dog

ibarelycare

WARNING: Disturbing video. I'm not going to embed it so here's the link.



A large number of police are surrounding a house in a residential area. A man is watching with his dog, and filming and taking pictures of the police with his phone, two officers in particular who look like they're standing by for orders. As he continues filming, the officers walk towards him and he puts the dog in his car and closes the door, but the car windows are wide open. The officers start to put him in handcuffs and the dog goes crazy in the car and jumps out the window towards his owner. The officers pull back as the dog attempts to bite one of their legs. Then the dog jumps up on one of the cops and tries to bite his arm, and is shot and killed.

No doubt there's going to be uproar in relation to this situation. It's so sad to see a dog being shot for trying to defend its owner and maybe the officer acted too rashly. On the other hand, a Rottweiler has one of the most powerful bites of any dog and if one is coming at you to attack, I can imagine the officer's instinct was to defend himself by killing it.

What do the people of AH think?

GarIT

The officer did the right thing, the dog was being aggressive and had to be killed.

Grand Moff Tarkin

None story the dog had it coming.

Mushy

Lot less sympathy because its a Rottweiler anyway, if it wasn't a vicious one I'd say hang the cop!

Sauve

If any dog tried to bite me I would happily shoot him too.
The police should be entitled to do their job without fear of being attacked like that.

Czarcasm

With a rotweiler latched on to your arm, your first thought is never going to be "ah sure, he'll let go in a minute".

The officer was left with no choice but to shoot the dog.

Cienciano

In america the issue is probably about the colour of the dog

Cuttlefish

The dog was protecting his owner, Now I have not watched the clip yet however all the guy was doing was filming a public event and the police, from the OP's thread, were being heavy handed. A dogs faith is unquestioning and he will defend his owner to the last everyone knows this and it was the action of the police man that provoked the reaction from the dog.

They had no right to put the dog in the car or to arrest the man.

Dog's sense fear and danger and probably did in this situation.


The police were heavy handed and wrong - simple as.

ibarelycare

Cuttlefish wrote: »

The dog was protecting his owner, Now I have not watched the clip yet however all the guy was doing was filming a public event and the police, from the OP's thread, were being heavy handed. A dogs faith is unquestioning and he will defend his owner to the last everyone knows this and it was the action of the police man that provoked the reaction from the dog.

They had no right to put the dog in the car or to arrest the man.

Dog's sense fear and danger and probably did in this situation.


The police were heavy handed and wrong - simple as.

They didn't put the dog in the car, the owner put the dog in the car while the police were approaching.

How do you know they had no right to arrest the man? It's not very clear from that video, but in another video you can see that he is being antagonistic and interfering in them doing their work.

If you haven't watched the video, how can you say they were heavy-handed and wrong?

Cuttlefish

ibarelycare wrote: »

They didn't put the dog in the car, the owner put the dog in the car while the police were approaching.

How do you know they had no right to arrest the man? It's not very clear from that video, but in another video you can see that he is being antagonistic and interfering in them doing their work.

If you haven't watched the video, how can you say they were heavy-handed and wrong?

I think your username doesn't suit you, you seem to be very passionate about this topic! :P

Why did you post about one video and then mention a second, perhaps more informative, video??

seamus

It's not clear the in the video why the man was being arrested.

The dog was clearly not being at all vicious, it was clearly just concerned for its owner. The correct course of action would have been to tell the owner to calm the dog down. The dog was quite relaxed and submissive until they started threatening it.

Complete overreaction and abuse of power on so many levels. Not really surprising given the increasing gulf between US security forces and their population.

Ruudi_Mentari

Looks like they jumped the gun somewhat, having never locked the window

brutal to see it squirm like that a deathly fit. Awful, but all an officer sees is a thug dogg

TeddyTedson

Poor dog. Although it would have been a lot worse if the dog bit someone. Probably the right decision after the dog escaped from the car.

listermint

It looks as if the dog was backing up and sniffing the ground before the officer approached it again antagonising it, completely mishandled the situation tbh

az2wp0sye65487

Just watched the video - and I'm sorry I did.

I didn't hear what was happening but it looks to me like the guy was filming the scene (as were plenty of others) with his dog calmly standing beside him on a leash.

The cops decide they want to talk to him so he puts his dog in his car and basically does what they say - he even turns around and puts his own hands behind his back.

The cops get a bit rough with him - when the dog sees people 'attacking' it's owner it tries to protect him. Didn't look like there was any need to shoot the dog. All it would have taken is for them all to calm down and someone to pick up the lead that was still attached to the dog's collar.

ibarelycare

Cuttlefish wrote: »

I think your username doesn't suit you, you seem to be very passionate about this topic! :P

Why did you post about one video and then mention a second, perhaps more informative, video??

I'm not being passionate about it, I think I was pretty clear in my OP that I could see it from both sides. I questioned your post as I think it's silly to be jumping to conclusions when you haven't even watched the video.



I saw the other video on Reddit on my way into work but couldn't find it when I was posting. I don't have speakers on my work computer, but I think this is the one.

Faith+1

Cop was right.

jamesjoyce1710

it isn't nice seeing the dog roll around like that but com eon it bloody attacked the cops, what do you expect them to do, its a big vicious dog!

fullstop

Cuttlefish wrote: »

I think your username doesn't suit you, you seem to be very passionate about this topic! :P

Why did you post about one video and then mention a second, perhaps more informative, video??

Why did you post your opinion of the video without watching the video? I mean, seriously

Dravokivich

ibarelycare wrote: »

If you haven't watched the video, how can you say they were heavy-handed and wrong?

You said yourself the video was quite disturbing. A lot of people are in work right now. How can you expect him to comment on the video itself as opposed to your summary of it?

Ruudi_Mentari

He failed to secure the dog himself. and it looks like one of them dogs thats for protection, even in public and aren't you supposed to muzzle a Rottweiler too

ibarelycare

Anika Fast Ballet wrote: »

Just watched the video - and I'm sorry I did.

I didn't hear what was happening but it looks to me like the guy was filming the scene (as were plenty of others) with his dog calmly standing beside him on a leash.

The cops decide they want to talk to him so he puts his dog in his car and basically does what they say - he even turns around and puts his own hands behind his back.

The cops get a bit rough with him - when the dog sees people 'attacking' it's owner it tries to protect him. Didn't look like there was any need to shoot the dog. All it would have taken is for them all to calm down and someone to pick up the lead that was still attached to the dog's collar.

You can see twice that one of the officer's tries to reach the leash. You can see in the video I posted in my last post that the owner was being antagonistic towards them, so they didn't detain him for no reason. It is so sad that the dog had to die as he was just looking out for his owner, but it was obviously a tense situation, there were loads of police cars in the area, the cops were walking around with machine guns. The officer reacted instinctively to protect himself and his colleagues.

Ilik Urgee

Can't remember my youtube username or password. And my feet are on fire.

ibarelycare

Dravokivich wrote: »

You said yourself the video was quite disturbing. A lot of people are in work right now. How can you expect him to comment on the video itself as opposed to your summary of it?

I've no problem with people not watching the video, and just drawing conclusions from my summary. But I gave as objective a summary as I could, and I couldn't see how that poster could have inferred from what I posted that the police were heavy-handed and straight up in the wrong.

az2wp0sye65487

ibarelycare wrote: »

You can see twice that one of the officer's tries to reach the leash. You can see in the video I posted in my last post that the owner was being antagonistic towards them, so they didn't detain him for no reason. It is so sad that the dog had to die as he was just looking out for his owner, but it was obviously a tense situation, there were loads of police cars in the area, the cops were walking around with machine guns. The officer reacted instinctively to protect himself and his colleagues.

The dog was acting instinctively to protect it's owner. But it didn't look overly aggressive - it stopped barking and started just sniffing the ground in the middle of the situation. A dog in 'attack mode' doesn't just lose concentration because of a good smell.

The dog was obviously well able to be handled.

ibarelycare

Anika Fast Ballet wrote: »

The dog was acting instinctively to protect it's owner. But it didn't look overly aggressive - it stopped barking and started just sniffing the ground in the middle of the situation. A dog in 'attack mode' doesn't just lose concentration because of a good smell.

The dog was obviously well able to be handled.

At 3:15, the dog is sniffing the ground. At 3:18 he goes for the cop's leg. Then he retreats slightly and as the officer tries to reach for his leash again at 3:22, he jumps to attack his arm, and the officer shoots.

az2wp0sye65487

ibarelycare wrote: »

At 3:15, the dog is sniffing the ground. At 3:18 he goes for the cop's leg. Then he retreats slightly and as the officer tries to reach for his leash again at 3:22, he jumps to attack his arm, and the officer shoots.

That's not attacking.

If a dog like that was really attacking it would have latched on to the cops arm/leg as soon as it ran out of the car - and not let go. It would then have been necessary to put the dog down.

ibarelycare

Anika Fast Ballet wrote: »

That's not attacking.

If a dog like that was really attacking it would have latched on to the cops arm/leg as soon as it ran out of the car - and not let go. It would then have been necessary to put the dog down.

So do you think they should have waited until he actually bit one of them, and possibly seriously injured them, before shooting?

The Cool

It's very easy for everyone here to say that it's animal cruelty and so on. It'd be a very different situation if you had a rottweiler getting mad at you.
Ok it's the dog's natural instinct to protect his owner. It's also a human's natural instinct to protect himself from an angry, strong, large animal.

listermint

The Cool wrote: »

It's very easy for everyone here to say that it's animal cruelty and so on. It'd be a very different situation if you had a rottweiler getting mad at you.
Ok it's the dog's natural instinct to protect his owner. It's also a human's natural instinct to protect himself from an angry, strong, large animal.

Which is what the pepper spray is for on the other side of his belt....

This was badly handled .

Israeli Superiority

Anika Fast Ballet wrote: »

That's not attacking.

If a dog like that was really attacking it would have latched on to the cops arm/leg as soon as it ran out of the car - and not let go. It would then have been necessary to put the dog down.

The dog is a pet, not a K-9 unit. Police dogs are trained to latch on to people like that, his dog didn't know what to do when it reached the scene.

If a Rottweiler came running at me, I would have shot it sooner. Scary fúckers.

Suceed

Here's what the dog owner has to say about the incident...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNok_raVQvE

seamus

Rottweilers are actually very placid dogs, very human friendly. They're used for protection not because they're good at it but because they're big and intimidating.

It's one of the more bizarre things about the modern world that we've managed to make ourselves sh*t scared of the one animal which is the least likely to pose any danger to us because we have bred it that way.

All dogs will react when their owners appear to be threatened. Given the volume of dogs held as pets around the world, it seems bizarre that police officers in most jurisdictions don't seem to receive even the most rudimentary training in dealing with one. Police officers who are expected to hold an automatic weapon in a responsible fashion, but can't even muster the simple thought process to realise - "Maybe if we ask the owner to intervene here, we can settle everything quickly."

Vomit

Many people own they kinds of dogs so they can look hard and intimidate others. It's bound to backfire eventually.

biko

When a dog dies it's heard across the Atlantic.
When hundreds of African kids die every day, meh..

Czarcasm

seamus wrote: »

Rottweilers are actually very placid dogs, very human friendly. They're used for protection not because they're good at it but because they're big and intimidating.

It's one of the more bizarre things about the modern world that we've managed to make ourselves sh*t scared of the one animal which is the least likely to pose any danger to us because we have bred it that way.

All dogs will react when their owners appear to be threatened. Given the volume of dogs held as pets around the world, it seems bizarre that police officers in most jurisdictions don't seem to receive even the most rudimentary training in dealing with one. Police officers who are expected to hold an automatic weapon in a responsible fashion, but can't even muster the simple thought process to realise - "Maybe if we ask the owner to intervene here, we can settle everything quickly."

The police officers were already in the middle of a tense stand off (how many, four police vehicles surrounding the house?), and in full view this clown steps out and is filming the whole thing, while someboby else is filming him.

Then officers come to cuff him (I assume to keep him out of the way!) while the stand off is going on, the dog escapes through the window of the car, attacks the officer, officer was left with no choice.

The only problem I have with it is the officers píss poor aim, the dog should've been downed with one shot, not left writhing around on the ground with another three shots to kill it.

az2wp0sye65487

ibarelycare wrote: »

So do you think they should have waited until he actually bit one of them, and possibly seriously injured them, before shooting?

No. I think they should have realised that the dog wasn't a real threat - and that it was actually their actions which caused the dog to react in the first place. All they had to do was instruct the owner to control his dog. They had him surrounded, and had guns. So a simple "control your dog or I'll have to shoot him" probably would have worked.

Israeli Superiority wrote: »

The dog is a pet, not a K-9 unit. Police dogs are trained to latch on to people like that, his dog didn't know what to do when it reached the scene.

Exactly - they should know the difference, and should have realised that the dog was not a serious threat to them.

seamus wrote: »

Rottweilers are actually very placid dogs, very human friendly. They're used for protection not because they're good at it but because they're big and intimidating.

It's one of the more bizarre things about the modern world that we've managed to make ourselves sh*t scared of the one animal which is the least likely to pose any danger to us because we have bred it that way.

All dogs will react when their owners appear to be threatened. Given the volume of dogs held as pets around the world, it seems bizarre that police officers in most jurisdictions don't seem to receive even the most rudimentary training in dealing with one. Police officers who are expected to hold an automatic weapon in a responsible fashion, but can't even muster the simple thought process to realise - "Maybe if we ask the owner to intervene here, we can settle everything quickly."

Exactly!

anncoates

Feel sorry for the dog as it has no say in whether it ends up being a fashion accessory for some halfwit.

ibarelycare

biko wrote: »

When a dog dies it's heard across the Atlantic.
When hundreds of African kids die every day, meh..

Why do people always use this tired argument? Yes, children die in Africa every day, we know. There is a civil war going on in Egypt. Nelson Mandela is at death's door. The US government are spying on their citizens. That doesn't mean that people don't want to hear about/read about/discuss other events.

Ush1

seamus wrote: »

Rottweilers are actually very placid dogs, very human friendly. They're used for protection not because they're good at it but because they're big and intimidating.

It's one of the more bizarre things about the modern world that we've managed to make ourselves sh*t scared of the one animal which is the least likely to pose any danger to us because we have bred it that way.

All dogs will react when their owners appear to be threatened. Given the volume of dogs held as pets around the world, it seems bizarre that police officers in most jurisdictions don't seem to receive even the most rudimentary training in dealing with one. Police officers who are expected to hold an automatic weapon in a responsible fashion, but can't even muster the simple thought process to realise - "Maybe if we ask the owner to intervene here, we can settle everything quickly."

Hardly that bizarre is it that we find a large, muscular animal with sharp teeth scary? Pretty much standard evolution.

ibarelycare

Anika Fast Ballet wrote: »

No. I think they should have realised that the dog wasn't a real threat - and that it was actually their actions which caused the dog to react in the first place. All they had to do was instruct the owner to control his dog. They had him surrounded, and had guns. So a simple "control your dog or I'll have to shoot him" probably would have worked.

Yeah that would have been a great way to handle it. But the owner was in handcuffs. It all happened in the space of a few seconds. The officer probably panicked when the Rottweiler went for him. Of course it's an unfortunate incident that could have been handled better, but faced with potential danger, rational thought can go out the window.

LizT

That's disgusting and upsetting. Seeing the dog writhing in pain at the end...
The police were far too heavy handed, firstly arresting the guy. He put up zero resistance yet they seem to be quite aggressive in restraining him. Completely unnecessary to shoot the dog, if they had even just let the owner try to calm him down, he probably would have been ok.

seamus

Czarcasm wrote: »

Then officers come to cuff him (I assume to keep him out of the way!) while the stand off is going on, the dog escapes through the window of the car, attacks the officer, officer was left with no choice.

Except that the dog didn't attack the officer. It stood there and watched until one idiot decides to ride his white horse into the situation without correctly assessing it, threatens the dog and causes it to attack. Why is this police officer trusted with a gun when he's shown himself to be incapable of acting in a controlled and rational manner?

anncoates

The argument that dogs like Rottweilers and other large/powerful dogs are inherently placid is disingenuous when so many of them are in the hands of halfwits that don't rear them properly.

az2wp0sye65487

biko wrote: »

When a dog dies it's heard across the Atlantic.
When hundreds of African kids die every day, meh..

Maybe people can relate to a dog being killed as many of us keeps dogs as pets, but none (hopefully) keep African kids out the back...

anncoates

biko wrote: »

When a dog dies it's heard across the Atlantic.
When hundreds of African kids die every day, meh..

The problem with this argument is that if you follow it to its logical conclusion, you - or anybody else - can never ever discuss any issue that concerns you when other more serious issues exist in the world.

It's essentially a lazy student debating-type point designed to derail discussions in lieu of offering an opinion.

Femme_Fatale

GarIT wrote: »

The officer did the right thing, the dog was being aggressive and had to be killed.

Not sure why it "had to be killed". If a dog had to be killed every time it got defensive of its owner it would be quite the free-for-all.

What should have been the course of action if the person in question wasn't a trigger-happy cop and didn't have a gun handy?

LizT

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

Not sure why it "had to be killed". If a dog had to be killed every time it got defensive of its owner it would be quite the free-for-all.

What should have been the course of action if the person in question wasn't a trigger-happy cop and didn't have a gun handy?

Exactly. My dog is the most placid thing going, she will go up to strangers and wait to be petted as long as some of my family are there. One day she was out in the garden by herself, there was no one in the house for a few hours. A guy that was doing work in the back garden came to the house and climbed over the fence into the back garden. She got upset and became aggressive towards him so he left.

She has never ever been like that when I'm around, she just knew the house was empty and someone was trying to get in so she was trying to protect us. It's her instinct.

MonaPizza

American cops aren't capable of using common sense. Common sense is for pussies. They just like roughing people up and pulling the trigger at any opportunity. They blast mentally handicapped people who are having a tantrum in the street and there's a core of cowardly people who'll ALWAYS come to their defence stating they had the right to kill the dog/toddler/autistic guy/pensioner who was "interfering with them doing their brave and tough job"

Kevo

Very heavy handed and completely unnecessary. The situation could easily have been handled by asking the man to put his dog back in the car.

guttenberg

Jesus that was horrible to watch. In fairness if you watch any American cop show you realise they instinctively think that brute force can solve anything. What did the guy do apart from video the entire scene from a safe distance and possibly gave some lip? surely a polite "F off" would be better than arresting him when they clearly had someone more important to arrest judging by the presence of SWAT? The dog didn't have to die.:mad: