Officer Gloats and Reveals Why He is Free to Shoot Your DogsOfficers Feel Free to Shoot Dogs; Its Not For Lack of Training Why bother sharing stories about police shooting our pets? I hear: Arent these just a few isolated incidents from a few bad eggs? Shouldnt people learn to keep their pets safe its the owners fault. Its just incompetence and paranoia Officers need more training to handle dogs! Pass a law for training! They shoot people too, of course they would shoot dogs By highlighting these acts of terror you are further propagating fear What prompted those concepts? Did it ever occur to the folks above that the very problem lies in the training? Although I only suspected, but could never provide concrete evidence for, the idea that officers are specifically trained and encouraged to shoot or kill pets (outside of SWAT raids where they are unfortunately always the first casualty) a few incidents point in that direction. First, do you remember the officer who was shot and killed after he tried to shoot a homeowners dogs? He was instructed to do so by the police chief (see the Daily Mail link therein)/ Secondly, former policeman Jim Osorio is featured in this extended trailer for the upcomingPuppycidedocumentary. He consults with departments on handling canines and propagates the blame the owner theory. But, he reveals the police perspective at 2 minutes, 14 seconds that officers need to eliminate the threat as soon as possible. I would ask him if chained dogs, little kittens, chihuahuas,pet chickensand pet parakeets qualify as threats. If they hesitate it could be their own lives, he says. To date, no officers have been killed by dogs. But one recently coaxed a friendly dog over to him in order to kill it. The kicker later, he says that police dont want to shoot the dog, but have no other choice because they arent trained, nobodys told them anything different,other than just to shoot the dog. And finally, a story featured in a travel blog called A Cop Tried to Kill My Dog Last Night leaves a lot to ponder. Basically, following a hipster-esque biker gathering, two men retreated to their tents; after which, in the middle of the night, four officers start scavenging the place. Even this didnt prompt the dogs into high alert or on-guard viciousness. Wes Siler writes, In a moment of gloating, an officer reveals why they feel free to shoot dogs. [] You do not appear to have control of your animals. To me, that sounded like he was saying that as a precursor to shooting them or as a suggestion towards further action. [] The cop with the gun then approached me and explained in great detail how he was authorized to shoot any dogs he felt were a threat. I can shoot any dog that approaches me, he said holding his gun, in a gloating manner. All I have to say is that I feel theyre a threat. Any. Dog. They wanted to show us their gun, show us they were in charge and revel in our submission, Wes writes, noting the helplessness of the situation unless he were willing to venture into going-to-jail territory. He might feel helpless, but by sharing his story and the story of his dogs near-death encounter he is pointing out the menacing spirit the vast majority of people are unaware of. Its not incompetence; its not a lack of training problem for the big dogs. The debilitating, demoralizing effect of blasting away furry family members is an act of war in an occupied country where full subjugation is required for completion. Recently from Amanda Warren: 