Love your dog? Dont call the copsMelissa Melton The debate centered around cops shooting dogs. Apparently police officers from Round Rock, Texas had responded to a burglary alarm at a private residence, and arrived to find the front door ajar. They went inside to sweep the house, only to be confronted by the home owners eight-year-old, 120-pound rottweiler with hip dysplasia. The officers proceeded to reportedly shoot the animal a combined total of seven times; one officer firing one round, while the other fired six. The debate centered around what people thought. One of the deejays argued that the Round Rock PD had already offered to buy the owners a new dog, so it was ridiculous that some ambulance chaser would wind up getting them an additional 100-500k for pain and suffering on top of it. The seemingly obligatory female deejay played the sympathetic role, talking about how the pet was the residence owners baby. Then some guy called in with the rebuttal that a dog cant make no woman pregnant so therefore it doesnt count as family (couldnt make that one up if I tried). Officers killing dogs in the line of duty how common is this becoming in modern America? Seems like no more than three days go by before I hear about a new pet dog slain at the hands of police who, in most cases, were called for help. Itchy trigger finger, much? What if the couples child had been in the home? Elderly relative with a hearing problem? Someone who reacts to a dog inside the dogs own home by instantly mowing it down with bullets isnt necessarily someone I would ever want to call when Im in trouble. Now we live in a police state, and if you own a dog, you might want to think carefully about how much your stuff is worth before you dial 9-1-1. Are your belongings worth more than the life of your pet? More and more, thats the choice people have to make in modern America. Sure, you might read this story and say, Yeah, but that dog was a 120-pound rottweiler. Thats a seriously scary dog (not always true, but go on). If you were a police officer and that dog was coming at you (something we dont know for sure even happened in this case), you might do the same. Fine. Say that. But it doesnt really explain why cops are also responding to 9-1-1 calls and killing everything from an 11-year-old, 12-pound dachshund, to a pregnant chihuahua, to a freaking puppy, does it? Because those dogs were all shot by cops in the line of duty too. They do it, and all they have to do to justify it is say they felt threatened (via Huffington Post): Why are cops, those supposed societal protectors, so easily threatened by seemingly any dog? It goes without saying (but typing that means Im saying it anyway) that if you are a police officer who is so utterly jumpy and easily scared that a pregnant chihuahua threatens you, at the very least you are probably in the wrong line of work. National records are not being officially kept on how many dogs are shot by cops in the line of duty each year; I think its safe to say that if they were, the figures would probably horrify most people. Just out of curiosity, I typed police kill dog into a search engine just to see what would pop up from the past month. One of the first returns was a Google+ posting via The Free Thought Project from May 8, 2014. It was titled, 15 Stories of Cops killing dogs: Executive Assistant and Government Relations staffer for THLN Stacy Sutton Kerby told KXAN News, Anytime a canine approaches an officer, that doesnt mean theyre necessarily coming to attack. Seems pretty common sense. In fact, thats a near textbook definition of a common sense comment. Its so common sense in fact, that it begs the question: does it even need to be said? Yes, because apparently common sense has fallen by the wayside. As such, its no longer common sense to call the cops if your house gets robbed and you own a dog, unless your possessions are worth more than your pet. Melissa Melton is a writer, researcher, and analyst for The Daily Sheeple, where this first appeared, and a co-creator of Truthstream Media. Wake the flock up! 