Cops kill family dogs over minor drug offense

[baalroo]

Columbus, Mo:

(this video IS disturbing to watch)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbwSwvUaRqc

The guy had "a little over an ounce" of marijuana in his home. Cops smashed in his door and killed a CAGED pit bull and a corgi. I don't even really know where to start on how terrible this is on sooo many levels. It actually makes me physically ill to watch.

EDIT: turns out the pit bull that was killed was NOT caged, and the corgi was shot but not killed.

[spade2you]

A corgi?! This means war..........

[Thunderscreech]

Ugh. Talk about Police Brutality...

[superfunk47]

I can't force myself to watch that video.

Animals > people, IMO.

[Gard]

I refuse to watch the video.

Originally Posted by spade2you

A corgi?! This means war..........

I've known hundreds of Corgis, and I know you have one, I've never known one that deserved such treatment.

If the animals were caged, then WHY did the police use deadly force, under any circumstance?

I hope that there are legal proceedings against the officers responsible for this.

[baalroo]

Originally Posted by Gard

I refuse to watch the video.



I've known hundreds of Corgis, and I know you have one, I've never known one that deserved such treatment.

If the animals were caged, then WHY did the police use deadly force, under any circumstance?

I hope that there are legal proceedings against the officers responsible for this.

If you really do refuse to watch the video, just let me make it clear to you that this is a family with children in a clean and "respectable" looking home. Once the man being arrested realizes they killed his dogs he begins to sob and wail about how "they were good dogs, why did you do that? they were probably trying to play with you!" and wife and child can be heard in the background sobbing as well.

[Pilgrim]

I did some searching and this video is all over the web, but it's mostly on websites where there is a clear political agenda against police and their actions. Most people have not bothered to get more information - so I did.

Before passing judgment, we should read this story from the Columbia newspaper:
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/...swat-incident/

The warrant should not have been served, according to the police chief. Therefore, the police screwed up! No question about that.

According to the news article, there was good reason to approach this situation with a great deal of caution. "Information provided by an informant led investigators to believe Whitworth was in possession of a large amount of marijuana and was considered a distributor. In 2003, Whitworth pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana in federal court and was ordered to serve 15 months in federal prison, according to court documents."

Some cops do get carried away in situations like this. You can argue that the cop who did most of the talking was overly hyped, OR you can argue that the way he approached this reduced the likelihood that the guy they were arresting would resist and escalate the situation.

Important note - Both dogs were shot, but only one died. And the one which died (the pit bull) was NOT caged...it approached the officers. In the last moments of video before the camera turns away, I can see the dog's body laying OUTSIDE the cage. My conclusion is that the dog was NOT caged at the time this occurred. Chances are that the dog slept in its travel crate next to where the body lies, but the door was left open and the dog approached the cops when they entered.

I think the cops handled themselves on the edge of excessive force, but in that situation they had no option but to subdue the dog unless it retreated - which it probably did not. I don't care if the owner said it was a nice dog, when intruders enter a house, the nicest dogs can and will attack. In this situation, the dog was an unfortunate victim. But that dog could just as easily have gone after someone's throat. I'm not making excuses, I'm trying to analyze the situation as someone who has been a reserve deputy.

Making this kind of arrest at night is common, because people do not function as well and are less prone to react violently. Personally, I would prefer that MJ be legalized so this kind of action will become much less common.

Here's another related article from that same newspaper: http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/...swat-changing/

[cheezewiz]

I have mixed feelings. IF it happened just as you say, there is no excuse. If they were caged, they should not have been harmed. However, I watched the video, and saw nothing to indicate the dogs were caged. Regardless, the corgi shouldn't have been killed. The Pit Bull, if it is not restrained, and acts aggressive in any manner, is fair game. The Officers will protect themselves from a Pit Bull attack.

As far as the amount of marijuana he had, was this known BEFORE, or after the search warrant? Has anyone seen the warrant? Was there reliable information that there were weapons there? Information there was a lot more than marijuana there? That makes a big difference. I'm not going to get into a pot argument. Personally, I think it should be legal

[cheezewiz]

Ahh..Pilgrim and I posted simultaneously. He covered my points better than I did.

It certainly would NOT be unusual, for a poster, such as the OP, to "ad" his own "facts" to make the police behavior look worse than it was.

[kingpin2512]

Ive already seen this video and got sick myself from watching it. I didn't get why the dogs were shot and am hoping for some legal ramifications.

[line6man]

This is absolutely disgusting.

[spade2you]

Originally Posted by cheezewiz

It certainly would NOT be unusual, for a poster, such as the OP, to "ad" his own "facts" to make the police behavior look worse than it was.

Not cool.

[cheezewiz]

Originally Posted by spade2you

Not cool.

I'm not sure if you're saying my posts, or the OP's aren't cool, but if it's mine, you're entitled to your opinion. For me, it's "not cool" to say the dogs were caged, when they weren't.

[spade2you]

Originally Posted by cheezewiz

I'm not sure if you're saying my posts, or the OP's aren't cool, but if it's mine, you're entitled to your opinion. For me, it's "not cool" to say the dogs were caged, when they weren't.

Not cool that there were fabricated facts by the OP.

[Gard]

Originally Posted by spade2you

Not cool.

The OP did indicate that the dogs were both crated at the time of the incident, but according to further conversation here, it appears that wasn't the case.

It doesn't change my opinion of the situation (dogs that were not a threat being shot; pot being illegal is stupid [and I've NEVER used]); however, it does give pause. There is a possibility that the officers may have felt threatened, and were defending themselves, in their minds.

I know many pit bulls, they're all big babies, overgrown lap dogs that just want to show love to everyone. I believe that is the NATURAL attitude of said breed, and that the aggressive behavior exhibited by some percentage of them is either training or poor ownership, not inherent in the breed. That said, they have a REPUTATION, deserved or otherwise, for aggression, and that reputation can cause over-reaction in such a situation. Sad.

[cheezewiz]

Originally Posted by spade2you

Not cool that there were fabricated facts by the OP.

Understood. I actually doubt he fabricated it, but probably just repeated what he had heard, and was eager to post it to bash cops. It certainly happens a lot here. The thread title is certainly misleading though. There is no way to know if there was intelligence saying weapons were present, and there is no way to know what was suspected of being there, without seeing the actual search warrant. Most of the anti cop crowd aren't interested in facts, they are just interested in pushing their agendas.

[cheezewiz]

Originally Posted by Gard

The OP did indicate that the dogs were both crated at the time of the incident, but according to further conversation here, it appears that wasn't the case.

It doesn't change my opinion of the situation (dogs that were not a threat being shot; pot being illegal is stupid [and I've NEVER used]); however, it does give pause. There is a possibility that the officers may have felt threatened, and were defending themselves, in their minds.

I know many pit bulls, they're all big babies, overgrown lap dogs that just want to show love to everyone. I believe that is the NATURAL attitude of said breed, and that the aggressive behavior exhibited by some percentage of them is either training or poor ownership, not inherent in the breed. That said, they have a REPUTATION, deserved or otherwise, for aggression, and that reputation can cause over-reaction in such a situation. Sad.

I've personally seen both kinds of pit bulls Gard. They both exist. I've seen dogs that are teddy bears, and I've seen dogs that would rather rip your face off than bark. Claiming all pits are big babies, is just as wrong as saying they are all killers.

[Gard]

Originally Posted by cheezewiz

Understood. I actually doubt he fabricated it, but probably just repeated what he had heard, and was eager to post it to bash cops. It certainly happens a lot here. The thread title is certainly misleading though. There is no way to know if there was intelligence saying weapons were present, and there is no way to know what was suspected of being there, without seeing the actual search warrant. Most of the anti cop crowd aren't interested in facts, they are just interested in pushing their agendas.

Pat, I hope you don't consider me "anti-cop" in any way. I however am very "pro-dog", and believe that in the end, there was no genuine reason for any harm done to the dogs in this situation.

But, I do understand (as posted previously) why someone may have an over-reaction to a pit bull dog - not because of reality, but because of media-induced pre-concieved notions.

[SpamBot]

Originally Posted by cheezewiz

It certainly would NOT be unusual, for a poster, such as the OP, to "ad" his own "facts" to make the police behavior look worse than it was.

+1 here, looks at this from a the police perspective..... you get a warrant to bust into a known drug dealer's home, who is reported to have a large amount of weed, and the first thing you see is a pit bull.

I'm not saying the police were in the right, I just think that a lot of people here are reacting very strongly to a situation they don't know all the facts about.

[Gard]

Originally Posted by cheezewiz

I've personally seen both kinds of pit bulls Gard. They both exist. I've seen dogs that are teddy bears, and I've seen dogs that would rather rip your face off than bark. Claiming all pits are big babies, is just as wrong as saying they are all killers.

There are "bad" pit bulls. However, I'd like to point out that the most dangerous dog by sheer number of bite incidents is not the pit bull, it is the golden retriever.

Again, the reason you see a large number of pit bulls that are aggressive is not the DOG, it is the DOG OWNER, who through either ignorance or (very stupid) intent has either trained the dog to be aggressive, or has not properly socialized a large, powerful animal to understand its place in the "pack". A lot of the issue is that a certain group of people LIKE the "power" they feel by having such a strong dog acting aggressive, so they either train it to be so, or allow it to, intentionally because it's "cool".

In these incidences, I believe the owner should be put down, not the dog.