Cops shoot dog, leave note

[General Zod]

http://www.ktvu.com/news/25234528/detail.html

OAKLAND, Calif. -- An Oakland family was still waiting to get their dog's remains back from police Thursday night, two days after an officer shot the animal in their own back yard and left behind only a note.

When Mary Kate Hallock arrived home on Tuesday, she immediately sensed something was wrong.

Her front gate was open and at the front door, instead of the family dog, she found a note from an Oakland police officer.

'The officer wrote ‘OPD responded to your residence to investigate a burglary alarm,’” explained Hallock.

The Hallock's burglary alarm went off around 11:30 Tuesday morning. The officer said when he went to check the back yard he saw an open door and the dog -- a yellow lab named Gloria -- charged at him.

“’While checking rear perimeter, lab advanced on officer in threatening manner before being shot and killed," read Hallock from the note the officer left.

Hallock said her family was stunned by the news.

'I'm just really upset and sad,” said her daughter Isabel Hallock. “And it really didn't need to happen, I think, but it did."

Isabel and her brother Matthew Hallock said Gloria had been part of the family since she was a puppy. They said she was not an aggressive dog.

"I'm a preschool teacher. This dog goes to school with me. It's around kids all the time,” said Mary Kate Hallock. “It's just a gentle giant and is eleven and a half years old also."

The incident wasn't the first issue Oakland police have had with animals this year. Back in May, there was widespread outcry after officers cornered a small deer in the backyard of a home in a quiet residential neighborhood and shot it to death before animal control personnel could arrive on the scene.

An Oakland police spokeswoman said the officer followed proper protocol. The officer had thought it might be a burglary in progress and said he feared for his safety when the dog ran toward him.

He left the note to alert the owners before taking the dog's body to animal control.

That response offered little solace to the Hallock family, who said police protocol should be reconsidered.

“We just keep going back to why shoot the dog?” said Mary Kate Hallock. “Shoot and kill the dog? We would just love for some other family not to go through what we're going through, ‘cause it's heartbreaking."

The Hallocks hope police in the future will consider using pepper spray or a Taser on dogs instead of a gun.

I mean really, this is just absurd. Even supposing we give the benefit of the doubt to the cop and the dog really was behaving "aggressively", just leaving a note? What the fuck?

[Enigma]

Bullshit on acting aggressively. This is just based on personal experience but I've encountered many Labs and in every case they never acted aggressively even though I was a stranger. I knew one lab that would go on its hind legs and pin you to the wall while it licks your face and that dog would hide in its room whenever the vacuum is used. Also, when I used to be a courier I encountered a brown lab in a business. Upon seeing me it would quickly walk towards me with it's head down but eyes looking at me. At first I was apprehensive but once the dog was in front of me, it would turn around and sit down, waiting for me to pet it.

I just do not see how a police officer can interpret a large yellow lab coming towards him as being aggressive. Even if it was barking at the officer as it came towards him does not mean that dog was going to attack him. It is not a pit bull.

I wonder if they would have shot a Chihuahua if it acted aggressively towards the officer.

[General Zod]

I wonder if they would have shot a Chihuahua if it acted aggressively towards the officer.

Maybe if it was named killer.

[Aaron]

Bullshit on acting aggressively. This is just based on personal experience but I've encountered many Labs and in every case they never acted aggressively even though I was a stranger. I knew one lab that would go on its hind legs and pin you to the wall while it licks your face and that dog would hide in its room whenever the vacuum is used. Also, when I used to be a courier I encountered a brown lab in a business. Upon seeing me it would quickly walk towards me with it's head down but eyes looking at me. At first I was apprehensive but once the dog was in front of me, it would turn around and sit down, waiting for me to pet it.

I just do not see how a police officer can interpret a large yellow lab coming towards him as being aggressive. Even if it was barking at the officer as it came towards him does not mean that dog was going to attack him. It is not a pit bull.

I wonder if they would have shot a Chihuahua if it acted aggressively towards the officer.

Not everyone has experience with dogs and if you don't then a hyper, excited dog can be mistaken for aggressive. I'm going to be optimistic and go with the officer doesn't have much exposure, rather then an asshole.

[PhilosopherOfSorts]

Bullshit on acting aggressively. This is just based on personal experience but I've encountered many Labs and in every case they never acted aggressively even though I was a stranger. I knew one lab that would go on its hind legs and pin you to the wall while it licks your face and that dog would hide in its room whenever the vacuum is used. Also, when I used to be a courier I encountered a brown lab in a business. Upon seeing me it would quickly walk towards me with it's head down but eyes looking at me. At first I was apprehensive but once the dog was in front of me, it would turn around and sit down, waiting for me to pet it.

I just do not see how a police officer can interpret a large yellow lab coming towards him as being aggressive. Even if it was barking at the officer as it came towards him does not mean that dog was going to attack him. It is not a pit bull.

I wonder if they would have shot a Chihuahua if it acted aggressively towards the officer.

Not disagreeing with you in general, but I got torn up fairly bad by a black lab when I was about ten years old. Any dog can be aggressive, its more about how they're trained and socialized than breed.

[Kamakazie Sith]

I mean really, this is just absurd. Even supposing we give the benefit of the doubt to the cop and the dog really was behaving "aggressively", just leaving a note? What the fuck?

Well, what would you recommend if they can't reach the owners via telephone?

[Bakustra]

I mean really, this is just absurd. Even supposing we give the benefit of the doubt to the cop and the dog really was behaving "aggressively", just leaving a note? What the fuck?

Well, what would you recommend if they can't reach the owners via telephone?

A note that explained that the dog was shot and why?

[General Zod]

I mean really, this is just absurd. Even supposing we give the benefit of the doubt to the cop and the dog really was behaving "aggressively", just leaving a note? What the fuck?

Well, what would you recommend if they can't reach the owners via telephone?

It doesn't even sound like they attempted to contact the owners via telephone.

[Psychic_Sandwich]

Well, what would you recommend if they can't reach the owners via telephone?

I dunno, maybe somebody at the house to explain the situation to the family? If that's an ineffective use of police resources, I'd suggest that the police shouldn't be wandering around shooting people's dogs if they don't want to take the time to explain themselves properly to the owners afterwards.

Doing so by leaving a note just isn't appropriate.

[Alyrium Denryle]

Not everyone has experience with dogs and if you don't then a hyper, excited dog can be mistaken for aggressive. I'm going to be optimistic and go with the officer doesn't have much exposure, rather then an asshole.

Then maybe, just fucking maybe, cops ought be given a 2 day course in the academy or whathaveyou on the temperaments of common dog breeds, and how to read dog aggression. This is not difficult.

A yellow lab is about the friendliest dog known to man. They have been known to lick the faces of home invaders while barking and wagging their tails. Good watch dogs, bad guard dogs. If this officer did not know that simply because everyone and their mother has a yellow lab (seriously, one of the most common breeds in the US. Someone would have to be living under a rock to know that in order to get an aggressive one, you have to abuse it) then he needs to be taken out back and shot like Old Yeller.

Well, what would you recommend if they can't reach the owners via telephone?

Something other than a god damn note. Station an officer there. Afterall, the officer did just basically kill a family member.

[RogueIce]

Well, what would you recommend if they can't reach the owners via telephone?

A note that explained that the dog was shot and why?

It would appear that is what they did:

Her front gate was open and at the front door, instead of the family dog, she found a note from an Oakland police officer.

'The officer wrote ‘OPD responded to your residence to investigate a burglary alarm,’” explained Hallock.

The Hallock's burglary alarm went off around 11:30 Tuesday morning. The officer said when he went to check the back yard he saw an open door and the dog -- a yellow lab named Gloria -- charged at him.

“’While checking rear perimeter, lab advanced on officer in threatening manner before being shot and killed," read Hallock from the note the officer left.

It doesn't even sound like they attempted to contact the owners via telephone.

They may have or may not have. I'm curious though, for KS and SVPD:

If nobody's home (thus having dispatch find the number for that house would be pointless) what options could officers take to find an alternate number? I don't think they have an easy database of work/cell numbers at hand, do they? The only option I could see would be to try and knock on neighbor's doors. But this could fail for two reasons:

1) Nobody else is home, either.

2) They may not have numbers for the residents of the original house. I know you could go up and down my street and not find a single person who had a work/cell number for anyone in my family, for example.

I dunno, maybe somebody at the house to explain the situation to the family? If that's an ineffective use of police resources, I'd suggest that the police shouldn't be wandering around shooting people's dogs if they don't want to take the time to explain themselves properly to the owners afterwards.

Doing so by leaving a note just isn't appropriate.

How long should they leave an officer out there, just waiting?

According to the article, the officers arrived at around 11:30am on a Thursday. So assuming your "normal" work week, that meant the owners may not get home to 4 or 5pm. That's a good five hours or so that an officer would be sitting at the house, doing nothing.

(They may have been around the house for a good while anyway; typically I'd imagine when a firearm is discharged there's quite a bit of activity and they'll be there for awhile. But at some point they do need to get back out there on patrol)

So what other practical options are there?

If this officer did not know that simply because everyone and their mother has a yellow lab (seriously, one of the most common breeds in the US. Someone would have to be living under a rock to know that in order to get an aggressive one, you have to abuse it) then he needs to be taken out back and shot like Old Yeller.

I know absolutely nothing about the temperment or behaivor of a yellow lab. Should I be taken out back and shot?

[Aaron]

Then maybe, just fucking maybe, cops ought be given a 2 day course in the academy or whathaveyou on the temperaments of common dog breeds, and how to read dog aggression. This is not difficult.

A yellow lab is about the friendliest dog known to man. They have been known to lick the faces of home invaders while barking and wagging their tails. Good watch dogs, bad guard dogs. If this officer did not know that simply because everyone and their mother has a yellow lab (seriously, one of the most common breeds in the US. Someone would have to be living under a rock to know that in order to get an aggressive one, you have to abuse it) then he needs to be taken out back and shot like Old Yeller.

Yeah, I said as much in the AD abortion thread; training on what constitutes aggressive behaviour. Thanks for the attitude though, was a nice touch.

[Alyrium Denryle]

Then maybe, just fucking maybe, cops ought be given a 2 day course in the academy or whathaveyou on the temperaments of common dog breeds, and how to read dog aggression. This is not difficult.

A yellow lab is about the friendliest dog known to man. They have been known to lick the faces of home invaders while barking and wagging their tails. Good watch dogs, bad guard dogs. If this officer did not know that simply because everyone and their mother has a yellow lab (seriously, one of the most common breeds in the US. Someone would have to be living under a rock to know that in order to get an aggressive one, you have to abuse it) then he needs to be taken out back and shot like Old Yeller.

Yeah, I said as much in the AD abortion thread; training on what constitutes aggressive behaviour. Thanks for the attitude though, was a nice touch.

Sorry. Long day, and it wont get any shorter. Moreover, killing dogs for no reason really irritates me.

[SVPD]

Not everyone has experience with dogs and if you don't then a hyper, excited dog can be mistaken for aggressive. I'm going to be optimistic and go with the officer doesn't have much exposure, rather then an asshole.

Then maybe, just fucking maybe, cops ought be given a 2 day course in the academy or whathaveyou on the temperaments of common dog breeds, and how to read dog aggression. This is not difficult.

Are you serious? 2 fucking days of additional training just on what different kinds of dogs are like? Do you know how much additional expense that would be across all the cops that get trained in the U.S. or even in Canada? No, the answer to your maybe is "no."

A yellow lab is about the friendliest dog known to man. They have been known to lick the faces of home invaders while barking and wagging their tails. Good watch dogs, bad guard dogs. If this officer did not know that simply because everyone and their mother has a yellow lab (seriously, one of the most common breeds in the US. Someone would have to be living under a rock to know that in order to get an aggressive one, you have to abuse it) then he needs to be taken out back and shot like Old Yeller.

Disregarding your absurd hyperbole about shooting people for not knowing what the temperment of various dogs are, when a dog you have never met before comes at you, you don't know if it was abused or what it's temperment is. Dogs do not come with fucking signs on them saying "I was abused" or "I'm not agressive; I just want to slobber all over your uniform." Moreover, this is in the middle of responding to a potential fucking burglary, which means there is quite possibly far more danger than just the fucking dog present. All right, so some yellow labs wag and lick home invaders. Others will fucking bite you because they perceive you as an invader. I've almost been bitten by a Golden Retriver, a dog not exactly noted for its aggressive tendencies either simply for walking up a driveway to knock on a door when the family was right there.

Something other than a god damn note. Station an officer there. Afterall, the officer did just basically kill a family member.

No, the officer killed a family pet. Regardless of how the family may feel about the pet, it is not a human being and is not entitled to the same sort of consideration. There is no good reason to station an officer there at the cost of his hourly wage for who know how long; the family could be gone for a week. People do often leave their dogs at home and have a friend come and tend to them, or pay someone to.

[Aaron]

Then maybe, just fucking maybe, cops ought be given a 2 day course in the academy or whathaveyou on the temperaments of common dog breeds, and how to read dog aggression. This is not difficult.

A yellow lab is about the friendliest dog known to man. They have been known to lick the faces of home invaders while barking and wagging their tails. Good watch dogs, bad guard dogs. If this officer did not know that simply because everyone and their mother has a yellow lab (seriously, one of the most common breeds in the US. Someone would have to be living under a rock to know that in order to get an aggressive one, you have to abuse it) then he needs to be taken out back and shot like Old Yeller.

Yeah, I said as much in the AD abortion thread; training on what constitutes aggressive behaviour. Thanks for the attitude though, was a nice touch.

Sorry. Long day, and it wont get any shorter. Moreover, killing dogs for no reason really irritates me.

Oops that should have said DA, stupid brain damage.

It irritates me as well, I'm willing to extend the officer the benefit of the doubt until shown otherwise though.

[SVPD]

They may have or may not have. I'm curious though, for KS and SVPD:

If nobody's home (thus having dispatch find the number for that house would be pointless) what options could officers take to find an alternate number? I don't think they have an easy database of work/cell numbers at hand, do they? The only option I could see would be to try and knock on neighbor's doors. But this could fail for two reasons:

1) Nobody else is home, either.

2) They may not have numbers for the residents of the original house. I know you could go up and down my street and not find a single person who had a work/cell number for anyone in my family, for example.

Getting phone numbers for people is very hit-or-miss. Sometimes you can, sometimes you can't. There are none in LEADS when you run a person or a license plate. It's usually not all that hard to get a primary home phone number for a city resident but obviously that would do no good in this case.

[SVPD]

Well, what would you recommend if they can't reach the owners via telephone?

I dunno, maybe somebody at the house to explain the situation to the family? If that's an ineffective use of police resources, I'd suggest that the police shouldn't be wandering around shooting people's dogs if they don't want to take the time to explain themselves properly to the owners afterwards.

Doing so by leaving a note just isn't appropriate.

I'll call your attention to the fact that they were responding to a burglar alarm. They are certinly not "wandering around shooting dogs for no good reason." A note explains to people to call the police so that they can explain themselves properly.

Maybe you're not aware of just how often burglar alarms go off falsely. I have responded to probably in excess of two hundred burglar alarms, and I have found exactly zero burglars or even evidence of burglary at any of those. In fact I've caught people only once and they were cleaning people. Every burglar or other break-and-enter type criminal I've caught has avoided alarmed structures and been caught in some other way. If people want to have burglar alarms that bring the cops to their house, then they damn well better make sure that the dog isn't going to be a danger to the cops when they arrive.

[Anguirus]

It strikes me as a mistake to send a single officer to investigate a burglary complaint. I once rated two for reporting a car stolen. And if you're going to enter people's homes, training on how to deal with dogs should be mandatory. Perhaps if it was, I wouldn't have seen three news stories this year about officers gunning down family pets. And it's not like I go looking for them.

[Alyrium Denryle]

Are you serious? 2 fucking days of additional training just on what different kinds of dogs are like? Do you know how much additional expense that would be across all the cops that get trained in the U.S. or even in Canada? No, the answer to your maybe is "no."

I was being over-generous on the time it would require. Frankly, you can go down the list of the top 10 or so dog breeds, which make up the vast majority of dogs a cop will see, with their general temperment and how to read a dog's body language in two hours. It is not at all difficult.

Also: Are cops not required to do some sort of professional development courses etc in order to keep their jobs?

Disregarding your absurd hyperbole about shooting people for not knowing what the temperment of various dogs are, when a dog you have never met before comes at you, you don't know if it was abused or what it's temperment is.

Body language is really god damn easy, and if you are in a house with children, or the dog looks well taken care of and is otherwise happily lounging around in a back yard, the chances of it being abused or ill-tempered are pretty damn low.

This is a dog running at you that is not being aggressive



You will note, he is not hunches, and the ears are flopping around



This dog is becoming irritated. The ears are back, hair is raised



A bite may be imminent if you push farther. Snarling.

As far as barking is concerned, you get the loud woof when the dog is alerting or querying. You get a much more snarly bark when the dog hates you.

This sort of shit can be taught in hours. There is no excuse for not doing it.

Particularly when the cop enters a back yard. Ascertaining dog presence and temperament is as easy as walking up to the gate and whistling before you go inside. Any dog will come to investigate. You can determine how personable they are from there.

No, the officer killed a family pet. Regardless of how the family may feel about the pet, it is not a human being and is not entitled to the same sort of consideration.

Even if I accept your premise that humans are somehow special and thus the only things worthy of direct moral consideration, which I do not, the family deserves better than a fucking note.

[Temujin]

I know the tasers aren't a viable alternative, but if they suspect a dog is potentially violent there is no reason they can't use something like pepper spray first. For Fuck's sake they've got stuff rated for use against bears!

[Kamakazie Sith]

It strikes me as a mistake to send a single officer to investigate a burglary complaint. I once rated two for reporting a car stolen. And if you're going to enter people's homes, training on how to deal with dogs should be mandatory. Perhaps if it was, I wouldn't have seen three news stories this year about officers gunning down family pets. And it's not like I go looking for them.

And perhaps if it was mandatory you still would have seen three stories about dogs being gunned down...

A few of you are making some speculative assumptions about this story, and the officers training. When an officer says "aggressive behavior" I don't picture the first pic AD posted. I picture the third pic and in a full charge. So, at this point we're just down to the officers word

As for leaving a note. Sorry, but a note is about as far as we can go if we are unable contact them by phone. It is likely a records check was conducted of the residence to find out what names were listed there and if there are any phone numbers attached to the names. Stationing an officer outside their house to wait for an unknown amount of time is a foolish waste of resources especially if this happened in a city like mine where we're busy pretty much every day.

Also, AD. I watched a dog with the posing of your #1 pic go from that to biting when it got within biting distance. So, you don't actually know as much as you think you do. I don't know what set the dog off, but like people animals can change their behavior instantly.

[noncredible]

It's weird how cops have their own little version of diplomatic immunity. If a civilian shoots a dog, he's screwed. If a cop shoots a dog, he's following protocol. And it's also simple logic: If there was a robbery, any dog would be barking. The dog started barking at the cop, not at the fake burglars.

Also, would this count as damage to property or animal cruelty?

[Alyrium Denryle]

Also, AD. I watched a dog with the posing of your #1 pic go from that to biting when it got within biting distance. So, you don't actually know as much as you think you do. I don't know what set the dog off, but like people animals can change their behavior instantly.

Yes they can, but the likelihood of it is low. Usually, an animal, any animal, will telegraph what it is going to do. You cant help freak things like that, but it is also no reason to shoot first and ask questions later. Do you shoot people because while they appear friendly and cooperative, they "might change their behavior instantly"? No. Even if you would not be thrown into your own little cell, it simply makes no sense to operate that way.

As a result, I have a hard time, given the description of the dog's extracurricular activities, believing that it behaved aggressively in any way.

[noncredible]

Also, had the internet crashed there too? Or were the police too lazy to check who actually lived in that house and their pets?

EDIT: Also, what would happen if a civilian were to walk into a police station that had police dogs, one of the police dogs attacked a civilian, and the civilian shot it?

EDIT 2: And don't they introduce the police cadets to dogs in training?

[White Haven]

I love how 'The dog is running at me and barking' is apparently justification to open fire. News flash, if you walk into a back yard occupied by a dog, or walk near one, or drive past, or whatever, you're going to be barked at and the dog is going to run as close to you as the fence allows. It's more or less equivalent to saying 'The dog was conscious.'