Anti-doggycide in Baltimore, Maryland

The obvious and unfortunate effect of the maxim that bad news will always be louder than happy news is that we tend to seriously underestimate just how much good there is in the world, even when we can’t go five minutes without hearing about the latest robbery, defrauding … or household pet being slaughtered by police under suspicious circumstances. Speaking of which, here’s a much-needed uplifting tale to illustrate that there are good and competent cops out there, such as Ofc. Dan Waskiewicz of Baltimore, who sent this email to the pitbull advocacy blog, Modified k9, describing his recent encounter with an allegedly “vicious” dog:

Hey,

I'm a Police Officer in Baltimore City. I am originally from Wilkes-Barre, and I am a fan of your organization and Pit Bulls. Today I received a call while on duty about a vicious dog chasing kids. When I came on the scene, I noticed people yelling out their windows at the dog. I followed the dog into an ally to see how it was acting. Going on my own approach, being a dog lover, I got out of my car and called the "vicious dog" over to me. The dog came over with it's tail between it's legs and panting. I grabbed my water bottle and the dog sat down next to me and began licking my pants. I started giving the dog water. I brought the dog over and waited for the pound to show up. My partner was not a fan of dogs and was startled by my approach. I suggested to him that this dog cannot be put down, and should be taken to a shelter. We took it upon ourselves to take the dog to the shelter, and transported it in the back seat in the back of our patrol car. Then I decided that I wanted to keep the dog, and spoke to the shelter about the steps to take to adopt it. The dog was originally kept outside and was filthy, and now it just might have a new home. I know you like positive pictures so I have attached a few. Have a great day and keep up the good work!

Officer Dan Waskiewicz
Baltimore City Police

Now this is how it’s done. No rash judgment, no shooting on-sight based on unreliable random witnesses, and best of all, no knee-jerk prejudice against an animal for belonging to a particular breed. Just a calm and rational approach with a perfectly happy outcome. Not to tell other cops how to do their jobs – wait, that’s actually exactly what I’m doing – but they really need to start looking at their more level-headed peers for guidance. There might just be a few less cadavers in the end.

Keep up the good work yourself, Officer Waskiewicz. Meanwhile, be sure to head over to the original post to see all those heart-tingling pics of the (very happy) pooch and his rescuer.

(via @radleybalko)

Tags: Dan Waskiewicz • pitbulls • dogs • Baltimore, MD • Modified k9