City's police dog killed by county man

[LilacDragon]

Ok. I give up and you are right. The shooter was at fault because he should have known that the dog was a police dog, was gentle and was awarded the special priveledge of wandering the neighborhood at will.

What was I thinking?

[critter crazy]

Ok. I give up and you are right. The shooter was at fault because he should have known that the dog was a police dog, was gentle and was awarded the special priveledge of wandering the neighborhood at will.

What was I thinking?

NO. definitely not! police dog or not, the dog should not have been wandering! but did he deserve to be shot??

[shais_mom]

Ok. I give up and you are right. The shooter was at fault because he should have known that the dog was a police dog, was gentle and was awarded the special priveledge of wandering the neighborhood at will.

What was I thinking?

I don't think there is any reason to be quite so nasty. You have your opinion and we have ours. I strongly still think this guy is an idiot simply b/c he shot first and asked questions later. Typical for this redneck-ish area. And yes, I live in the area so I am not un-educated in this matter. Trust me this isn't the first dog that was innocently happening along and was shot by the first redneck that sees it. It just makes the papers b/c it was a police dog.
I don't care if the dog looks like a pit or not - if it looked like a bear or a mountain lion - highly unlikely in this are- that's an entirely different story.
Its simply a case of "I say poe-tate-o you say pa-tat-o."

[LilacDragon]

That was hardly nasty.

As I said in my second post - I don't think that the dog should have been shot any more then you do. But the fact of the matter is that not everyone is as dog savvy as most of the members here and for whatever reason, this man felt that he needed to defend his son. Whether he was right or wrong - it is certainly no reason to call him names or refer to him as a "redneck".

[K9soul]

How tragic . Rest in peace, dear Flip. Officer Deeter must be devastated.. I understand how deeply bonded they become with their dogs.

[luvofallhorses]

what a *******! Rest in peace dear, Flip..you were loved dearly.

[wolfsoul]

How sad.

While I don't think the dog should have been shot, etc, I disagree that Belgians are friendly looking -- malinois being the variety that most would find least friendly-appearing. In a picture, a Belgian may appear quite nice, but in "real life," Belgians have a certain way of moving, and they have what is called the "Belgian stare" that sends alot of people on edge. I often have people ask me if my dogs are wolves.

Honestly the only plausable thing I can think of, though grasping for straws here -- is that the man was unable to reach his young son in the vehicle due to the dog's presence. It doesn't say how old the child was -- it could have been a baby for all we know. It could have been 40 degrees and the windows were rolled up. Perhaps he had run into the house because he'd forgotten something and left his son for one minute only to come back to find a dog in front of the vehicle. Now it may not give someone an excuse to shoot a dog, but we should give this man the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he had a good reason that the media is failing to admit (Remember -- the media?? The thing that ruined pit bulls?).

There are two sides to every story. It is a sad event and it could have been prevented but sometimes there is more than what there seems.

[lovingpaws]

This is ridiculous. The neighbor shoots a "dog". Come on, its not a bear or mountain lion. He could easily have picked up the phone to sherriff. There was no immediate danger.
Second the neighbor has never "seen" the police dog before, something about this story is just not fitting together. You have a cop and a K-9 cop living by you and you don't know what they look like. I want to throw up

[pitc9]

Ok. I give up and you are right. The shooter was at fault because he should have known that the dog was a police dog, was gentle and was awarded the special priveledge of wandering the neighborhood at will.

What was I thinking?

Ugh.... like THAT was Necessary

It was a horrible tragedy, the dog should have never been in that situation, it's sad any way you look at it.

RIP Flip.

[shais_mom]

I guess we will have to agree to disagree b/c only growing up 25 minutes from where this area doesn't give me any kind of clue to most of the people that live around there. Yup, I'm clueless.
RIP FLIP- play hard at the bridge.

[cyber-sibes]

How tragic. But let me get this straight - this guy is the policeman's neighbor, and the dog's been living there since 2003, and this guy didn't recognize the dog?????? I live just outside of Findlay, all the houses have farm fields in between, so 1/4 mile apart is not that big a deal. And the people around here all know who has what animals.

I think this guy's excuse sounds pretty lame. He was worried about his son, but he took the time to go into the house, load a gun (unless he keeps a loaded rifle in the same house his child lives in ), come back out & shoot the dog? B.S.

He should at the very least, have to reimburse the city for the loss.

[shais_mom]

How tragic. But let me get this straight - this guy is the policeman's neighbor, and the dog's been living there since 2003, and this guy didn't recognize the dog?????? I live just outside of Findlay, all the houses have farm fields in between, so 1/4 mile apart is not that big a deal. And the people around here all know who has what animals.

I think this guy's excuse sounds pretty lame. He was worried about his son, but he took the time to go into the house, load a gun (unless he keeps a loaded rifle in the same house his child lives in ), come back out & shoot the dog? B.S.

He should at the very least, have to reimburse the city for the loss.

well said Pat

[ramanth]

Amen Pat.

1/4 mile is not that far. My parents live in a rural area. I don't know all the neighbors that well, but I know if there is a dog in my parents yard, I can typically tell whose it is. The chow lives a 1/4 mile away. The terrier, about a 100 yards. The neighbors across used to have a Husky.

We've either led the dog home, called the owners, hollar at it from a window (and they typically scoot off) or if it's an unknown, called animal control.

It would of taken him less time to hollar at the dog to try and scare it off than to go load a gun and shoot it.

[CathyBogart]

I have to agree with Lilac....this was totally preventable....by the handler not leaving a $15,000 dog unattended. I don't like the idea of shooting strange dogs just for wandering on your property, but some people don't think of dogs as family members and don't attach the same emotional value to them that we do.

Honestly, the dog was on his property, and I have seen the "belgian stare" at the dog park and can understand how that could be very intimidating to someone unfamiliar with the breed.

As for recognizing the dog...if he is one of the people who doesn't attach much emotional value to a dog, he may have met his neighbor before and not paid any attention to the appearance of the dog.

I don't like that he just shot the dog out of hand, however, I don't think he was totally out of line to do so either.