Not A Question.

[Helmut Shmacher Space Chimp]

More like an apology. Sometimes I rant when I see a story of a LEO shooting a dog. I love animal very much and I can take a guess that there are a lot of LEOs here who are of the same mind. I want to say that I am very sorry if I have offended any officers here. I am not anti LEO. I am anti rouge/thug cop who would shot a dog without trying some other tactic to defuse a situation like this. I know that sometime in has to be done. I guess I do have a question. I know you guys have to do this. but do you guys feel any regret for having to do this in certain cases? thank for reading and God Bless You guys

[55chevypost]

More like an apology. Sometimes I rant when I see a story of a LEO shooting a dog. I love animal very much and I can take a guess that there are a lot of LEOs here who are of the same mind. I want to say that I am very sorry if I have offended any officers here. I am not anti LEO. I am anti rouge/thug cop who would shot a dog without trying some other tactic to defuse a situation like this. I know that sometime in has to be done. I guess I do have a question. I know you guys have to do this. but do you guys feel any regret for having to do this in certain cases? thank for reading and God Bless You guys

Luger, Ive been in my share of shootings and have been at countless other OIS's. I have never seen a copper " happy" to have been involved in a shooting, human or animal. There is a sense of survival that surfaces, knowing you lived to see another day, but it's a completely different emotion than "excited" to have shot/killed someone or something.
I have read your posts in OT in the past, and some are offensive. Most coppers have thick skin, and I thank you for your post here,but if you want to impress me, start this thread in OT. Either way, thanks for your thoughts.

[IrishJoe3]

More like an apology. Sometimes I rant when I see a story of a LEO shooting a dog. I love animal very much and I can take a guess that there are a lot of LEOs here who are of the same mind. I want to say that I am very sorry if I have offended any officers here. I am not anti LEO. I am anti rouge/thug cop who would shot a dog without trying some other tactic to defuse a situation like this. I know that sometime in has to be done. I guess I do have a question. I know you guys have to do this. but do you guys feel any regret for having to do this in certain cases? thank for reading and God Bless You guys

I appreciate non-hostile and non-confrontational nature of your post.

I've never shot a dog on duty. And I sincerely hope I never have to. And absolutely I would be upset if I had to shoot a dog.

Contrary to popular belief, dogs are very rarely shot. Personally I haven't heard of any of my coworkers ever shooting a dog, (and I have had coworkers bit by dogs before). The thing is, with a nation of 300 million + people, the odds are you WILL find whatever story you're looking for. For example, I guarantee that I can find multiple stories every day of someone killing a family member with a firearm. Now I COULD post every single example (justified or not) and rant about how gun owners are reckless, gun owners are out of control, gun owners can't be trusted with firearms. I COULD, but I don't. Because I understand that while that is true to a very limited number of individuals, it does not apply across the board.

This is where you and others in OT cross the line. When a dog shooting story gets posted, that thread almost always turns into a "cops are dog killers", which is no more true to me then you are a "child killer".

Another issue I believe that complicates this topic is that you are a responsible, loving dog owner. You can't imagine any harm coming to your pet. So when you hear of someone else's pet being harmed, you immediately imagine that it was you and your pet; hence the extreme emotions we see. Here's the problem. You ever see the gangster dragging the pitbull puppy down the street? Yeah...the training and time you invest into your dog? That pitbull puppy doesn't get any, and he's nothing more than a fashion statement that pretty soon gets ignored in a back yard. And he gets mean, from a combination of neglect, no training, and abuse. I have been to a number of homes were criminals intentionally retain aggressive violent dogs for the purpose of guarding a grow house or slowing down cops. Unfortunately, gangster houses tend to have police come visiting, which means the dog and the police are probably going to meet. And, just like the defendant putting on a suit, tie and getting a haircut, of course "fido" was a loving family dog who wouldn't hurt a fly.

The entire context is usually missed by the loving pet parents who, in their mind, put their dog in the dead dog's place and consequently lose the ability to think rationally.

[Helmut Shmacher Space Chimp]

Thanks for your honest talk guys. It's not an easy subject and I hope this make it easy for a more understanding nature in talking about this.

[1CavScout]

I had to shoot one dog while working patrol. I was in a fight with the owner of the dog, and the owner gave the dog a command to attack me (this all came out in trial later). I had no idea what he was yelling because it was not in English. The dog got a good first bite on my upper thigh, and took me out of the fight with the suspect. I grabbed the dog and threw it off of me, and it came back for another bite. I put three rounds of .40 in it's chest and it dropped. I then had to deal with the suspect who also almost got shot when he picked up a heavy object and tried to hit me with it.

I felt bad having to shoot the dog, but blame the owner. The guy was a former military dog handler, and admitted that he had trained the dog for protection and had given it a command to attack me. I personally think most of the dog shootings could be avoided though. I had co-workers that shot dogs that I felt did not have to happen.

[1CavScout]

I guess I should apologize as well. My post was obviously offensive enough to get tossed out but it is a hot issue with me and has been for some time. I do realize there are good cops but it seems that they are few and far between. I am still in favor of instituting a beefed up psych evaluation as part of the hiring process. It seems teachers and bankers go thru stricter testing than police. We need cops for our safety not law enforcers protecting themselves and their 'brothers'.

I had to take the MMPI and then sit down with a Psych for an interview. I don't think that teachers or bankers have to do that.

[P5Ret]

I had to take the MMPI and then sit down with a Psych for an interview. I don't think that teachers or bankers have to do that.

Let's not forget the polygraph, background check that goes well beyond a criminal history check. I can guarantee that none of the banker's or teachers that I know have gone through any testing that comes close to what LE candidates do.

[TeddyBallgame]

Let's not forget the polygraph, background check that goes well beyond a criminal history check. I can guarantee that none of the banker's or teachers that I know have gone through any testing that comes close to what LE candidates do.

none of that has to do with handing you a firearm...hell, security guards can carry a firearm...you go through that to help insure you can be trusted with the badge, not necessarily the firearm...the firearm is just one piece of the LE puzzle

[P5Ret]

It seems teachers and bankers go thru stricter testing than police.

none of that has to do with handing you a firearm...hell, security guards can carry a firearm...you go through that to help insure you can be trusted with the badge, not necessarily the firearm...the firearm is just one piece of the LE puzzle

Perhaps you should have paid attention to the quote above yours.

[TeddyBallgame]

Perhaps you should have paid attention to the quote above yours.

i did see it...it was laughable and i gave it the attention it deserved

[P5Ret]

So your going to bust my chops because I added on to a response to it? That makes sense, I guess.

[TeddyBallgame]

So your going to bust my chops because I added on to a response to it? That makes sense, I guess.

i was in no way trying to bust your chops P5, my statement only meant to reflect the background hoops that LE applicants MUST go through isn't to necessarily qualify them just to carry a firearm...the badge itself is the real objective, the firearm being a tool which comes with the territory

i only quoted you because you stated some of the obstacles you need to go through to justify having one, in which, was just a small part of the overall process and its intent

im sorry you took it the wrong way

[SVT-40]

Teddy, why are you even posting in this thread? It has nothing to do with you, and none of your comments are related to the OP's comments.

This thread is not for you or any othe non LEO to post their feelings. Maybe you should limit your comments to the off topic forum.

[CBR_rider]

Teddy, why are you even posting in this thread? It has nothing to do with you, and none of your comments are related to the OP's comments.

This thread is not for you or any othe non LEO to post their feelings. Maybe you should limit your comments to the off topic forum.

I don't see a problem with his posts...

As for the OP, I don't think I enjoy the act of killing anything... But yes, I have shot a dog after it and another one decided to attack me on a public highway because their owner was too ignorant to keep them contained. I only had to shoot one; the other took off after that.

ETA: It should be noted that when I was attacked I was on a totally unrelated call which was quite serious in nature (domestic dispute with a firearm). My non-lethal attempts to get the dogs away didn't work because I kinda needed to have a firearm out to deal with the call I was ACTUALLY handling (couldn't draw a taser) coupled with the fact that I can only deliver solid kicks to one dog at a time (which were working on the first dog..). If someone else can show me how to keep a firearm downrange while simultaneously kicking two attacking dogs, I'm all eyes and ears.