'This Insanity Has Got to Stop': Blaze Readers React to Furious Man Confronts Police Officers After a Cop Entered His Private Property and Shot His ‘Best Friend’ in the Head

TheBlaze posted a story earlier this week about a man who confronted police after he learned that an officer fatally shot his dog in his backyard while the officer was searching for a missing child.

Image source: YouTube

Police said the officer shot the dog because the officer was being threatened by it.

Here's what some readers of TheBlaze had to say about the incident:

JP4JOY

If kicking a police dog is considered assaulting an officer, killing a pet companion should be murder. 2nd degree, but murder nonetheless.

The-Monk

The police officer left before the owner got home.

Psychology 101…people who feel guilty flee the crime scene because they know they did something wrong.

Thenitehawke

Don’t know about where this took place but where I am, pets and farm animals are considered “property”. Killing those animals without a court order is considered destruction of personal property.

That’s the worst this cop will probably be charged with. Really, really need to change some laws!

stagedlife

The worst part is the child was found at his own home. They should have searched the child’s home first, after they found him they wouldn’t have had to create “exigent” circumstances so they can legally trespass.

TexasKnight

As a dog owner and dog lover, I feel this man's pain. My own dog was almost shot a few years ago when the police were doing a late-night drug raid on my next door neighbor’s house. Being late my 14-year-old daughter took the black dog out with out a leash. He ran at one of the officers sneaking through our yard to get to the rear of the house next door. My daughter did not see the officer but then ran toward the officer calling for our dog. The officer raised his weapon and pointed it first at my daughter then the dog when he finally saw it. Luckily, the officer was quickly able to realize what was going on, and the dog finally listened. Good police officer, handled the situation correctly. No harm except both the officer and my daughter got scared.

In this case, what would have been preferred? The officer injured by the animal? The officer not searching a back yard, where the missing child could be hiding or an abductee could have the child? This was very unfortunate, but let's keep this in mind: Cops are human. They will defend themselves.

Anonymous T. Irrelevant

I don’t see how it could conform with policy. The police were trespassing on the dog’s residence (as he lives there, too) and the dog was protecting the property of his master (his instinct). The police had no cause to shoot the dog. They could have taken a ladder, garbage can, or any other object and looked OVER the fence.

Eric-n-OTown

This insanity has got to stop. If police dogs are protected by laws against harm by criminal acts, than so must our pets (and to many of us, members of our families) be protected against excessive force. It is common for citizens to have dogs for protection of property, and unless you have a warrant to enter the premises, it should be just as much a violation to harm our animals as it is for us to harm theirs.

I get it, there was a missing child, but that does not give law enforcement carte blanche to go anywhere and everywhere in violation of our rights. To those who are defending this officer’s actions: if he believed his search required breaking into your home because you didn’t answer the door, and your teenage son/daughter was home alone and didn’t hear the knock at the door, how would you feel? How would you feel if your son/daughter was shot and killed when startling the officer coming around the corner to investigate? Would there be outrage then? Yes, I know, we’re talking about the difference between a human and an animal, but there’s a connection with the animal. And to those of us with animals (especially with no kids), it would be a devastating and senseless loss. Did the officer not have pepper spray? All the LEOs where I live do… Why was a lethal response the first response when looking for a lost (not kidnapped) child? This was just wrong, plain-and-simple.

TheLibertyDefender

I was an animal control officer for three years. I caught many dangerous dogs, usually while working alone. And I NEVER had to shoot an animal. I’ve pepper sprayed dogs, and had to pull my taser. As an animal lover, this sickens me.

hawkeye76

I have been a cop for 10+ years and this has got to stop. I am an animal lover; my dogs are like my kids. I have entered many back yards in my career (on good cause; alarm calls, burglaries, disturbances, etc.) and I am always prepared to high-tail it out of there if a dog comes running or barking. That’s their territory, I’m the one intruding on it. You NEVER go blindly into a back yard. If there is any indication of a dog on the property, I enter very slowly and gauge their reaction. I have met a few vicious dogs and generally they will bark and growl like crazy but not immediately charge. And if you didn’t walk in haphazardly, you have time to back out. And having been chased out of a few back yards, I have found on the rare occasion that a snout full of OC spray generally does the job. I would never shoot a dog unless I was being mauled or violently attacked. I truly do feel for these people, and I can’t imagine how I would react if someone killed one of my animals.

Deipnosophist

It’s interesting how, if a civilian shoots a police dog, the charge and consequences are far greater than those of a police officer shooting a civilian’s dog under similar circumstance.

Chloe19942014

This may sound dumb...but didn’t the police think that if a child were in this guy's back yard the dog would have been making a ruckus? After all, if the dog went after the cop,wouldn’t he have gone after the child? Give me a break. Frankly I am sick of cops who kill humans and their animals. Instead of killing why not aim for arms or legs? Also, if you shoot in the air, most dogs run away!

scootervanneuter

I’m a big supporter of the police, but these constant stories of ill-trained, frightened cops killing people’s pets in their own yards makes me sick.

If you are a cop, and your first instinct when a dog on its own property barks at you is to kill it, YOU SHOULD FIND ANOTHER LINE OF WORK.

orionreplay6607

As an owner of multiple Weimaraners, current friend at 10 years old, these are not threatening dogs. They are large and they bark loudly, but that is all. The owner may have specifically trained the dog for aggression, but it would have been against the instinctual nature of the breed.

Instead, as I have seen it with my Weims, people assume the worse because they are bigger than a normal run-of-the-mill dog. They tend to take to commands and control quite well. They only aim to please and sleep on your couch. They are sporting dogs, not attack dogs.

My guess is this idiot wandered into private property, and the large dog came to investigate. It most likely barked. They will even approach, but 99.99% of the time it is to sniff and then will jump on you to greet you. Police officer saw large dog barking and —angered at his predicament he stupidly put himself in — shot the dog to right the situation instead of actually seeing if the dog was aggressive, or simply backing out. A lost child would not be back there, obviously.