Monday, January 30, 2012

Doggycide in Ogden, Utah

| »
Dog chalk outline

A most irregular occurrence, where police shot and killed a dog that might actually have been aggressive for once:

Three officers said they were in the 1000 block of Patterson Street about 2 p.m. investigating an incident when an unleashed pit bull charged at them from a nearby backyard. Officers said they ordered the 31-year-old bystander to get control of the dog, but the woman told them it wasn’t hers.

The officers, who were standing in the road, said the dog started to circle the three officers and "bumped" into one of the officer’s legs, police said. The first officer deemed the dog a threat and fired a shot toward the animal. A second officer fired two more shots.

The dog died from its injuries. No officers were injured.

[…]

Police said they’ve asked the Weber County Attorney’s Office to complete an independent investigation into the incident since a bystander was injured. The department is also conducting its own administrative investigation to make sure the officers followed policy and procedure.

It may appear reassuring at first that the police department is looking into the matter, though this is tempered by the fact that they’re only doing so because a woman was injured, not because cops actually opened fire on a lowly animal. At any rate, details and other eyewitness reports are sorely lacking, so it’s impossible to know if the officers’ claim that the dog attacked them is based in reality, or possible anti-pitbull prejudice.


Doggycide Bingo card

Doggycide Bingo Index

Confirmed hits:

  • Dead dog
  • Total: 1/25
    A remarkably rare score, that. No bingo.

    (via The Agitator)

    Tags: