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Pyrmom
This Ticked Me Off & I know You Will Be Too!
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Found [35] Posts :: Page 1 of 2
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Posted: 2:41:14 PM 5/29/2005
TX: Cop shoots pet dog that bit him

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

06:52 PM CDT on Friday, May 27, 2005

Officer K.K. Miller shot the dog after it bit him on the wrist.

06:52 PM CDT on Friday, May 27, 2005
By Wendell Edwards / 11 News

A southeast Houston homeowner is angry that a Houston police officer shot his dog after walking into his backyard Friday morning.

The officer was responding to a burglary alarm call on Parliament when he encountered the dog.

"The officer was completely caught by surprise, you know. He was just responding, more or less to a routine alarm call," said HPD Lt. E.W. Harris. "And the dog was just in his backyard and the officer walked in and the dog attacked him."

The dog bit the Officer K.K. Miller on his left wrist so he shot him in the leg.

The dog's owners were devastated when they learned what happened.

They say the Great Pyrenees named J.P. has been part of their family for nearly a decade.

"...It's a loveable dog, but it's here to protect my family," said Franchelle Forgy, the owners' daughter.

Forgy said J.P. was on a long leash that allowed him to move around the backyard. She said the dog was only doing it's job.

"It's a pet, but it's like a human being. It has protected my family," Forgy said. "Years ago, we were robbed and, you know, in this neighborhood right now they need all the protection they can get."

Officer Miller drove himself to the hospital where he was treated and released.

The dog was critically injured and lost a lot of blood. The family says he may have to be put down.

The family took the dog to their private vet. Police cited them for failure to release the dog to animal control as required by law.

http://www.khou.com/news/local/hous....2b7b2134e.html VIDEO
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Posted: 4:03:04 PM 5/29/2005
No offense, but the officer should do what? Stand there and let his arm get chewed off? Of course the dog was only doing his job, but so was the police officer. And the fact that he shot it in the leg, says to me that he wasn't trying to kill the animal, just get it off of him.


It's a tragedy that it had to happen. But if a police officer is chasing some one through a yard and that yard's dog attacks the officer, there's really nothing for the officer to do but shoot it. He certainly can't stand there getting bit. This is just another reason why you should monitor your animals outside. If the dog's family had been there to call him off this might not have happened.

It is really sad, though, that their family pet might not make it.
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Posted: 4:05:56 PM 5/29/2005
This is why dog's shouldn't sleep outside.
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Posted: 4:07:16 PM 5/29/2005
It was the morning, not the middle of the night... it doesn't say anywhere that the dog lived outside.
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Posted: 4:18:25 PM 5/29/2005
it was an unfortunate accident for both parties. police officers have been mamed and even killed by peoples pets in the line of duty. it doesnt sound like he was shooting to kill the dog ,but more to get away from it. i would be upset too if it had been my dog but unless it is a trained police dog, they dont distinguish between an officer and a civilian. they see them as intruders and the instinct to protect comes out. BOTH were doing their jobs. hopefully BOTH will have full recoveries.

***Edited By: dusty082155 on 5/29/2005 4:20:05 PM***
Reason: added
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Posted: 4:26:31 PM 5/29/2005
"Forgy said J.P. was on a long leash that allowed him to move around the backyard".

The dog was on a long leash, why couldn't the officer just back his rear right back on out of the backyard? Obviously no burglar would be hanging out chillin with a GP dog in the back yard! Dah!

I agree he shot him in the leg instead of worse places. However I still say it was preventable. Who knows.....I wasn't there to witness....to bad...so sad....
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Posted: 4:38:34 PM 5/29/2005
it's quite possible that the officer didn't even realize the dog was on a long leash/lead in the yard until it was already attached to his arm. I think that both dog and officer were doing their job and this was just a bad collision course. I agree with the other posters, if the officer had wanted to kill the dog, he certainly could have, Instead he shot the dog in the leg, which apparently got the dog to release the bite, and then got out of dodge.
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Posted: 4:41:18 PM 5/29/2005
Yes, a LONG leash. We don't know how far the officer would have had to back up. We also don't know if the dog would have allowed it (he may have knocked the officer down). In a situation where a dog is biting/has bitten you and is in a situation to do so again, I don't think you have any choice but to do what you need to in order to get away from said dog.

It probably was preventable. But I don't see the officer as having done anything wrong. Dog was doing his job and officer was doing his job, why weren't owners doing their job monitoring the poor dog?
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Posted: 6:12:42 PM 5/29/2005
I think it's a terrible tragedy for both the dog and the officer, but I can find no fault with the family. Everyone here is so quick to say don't blame the breed, but in this case one person is quick to blame the owner. You don't know the circumstances here. No one said the dog was alone, no one said the dog sleeps outside, all that was said is the dog was outside on a long leash. Don't read into that. My dogs are inside the vast majority of the time, however they do go outside into a fenced backyard and most of the time I can see them. However, haven't you ever had to go to the bathroom or answer the phone or something when the dogs are outside. It's not equivalent to leaving a child in a bathtub unattended. I admit I was thinking if the dog was on a lead why couldn't he get away, however that too would be making assumptions. Maybe the only way he could get away is by shooting the poor thing in the leg. I am glad it was the leg, obviously he wasn't trying to kill the dog. What bothers me far more is the line at the bottom where it says the family took the dog to their private vet and were fined by the city for not surrendering the dog to animal control. What is wrong with their own vet who knows the dog and I would have done the same thing. It makes me wonder if they are trying to get their hands on the dog in a city pound because of who he/she bit. In no way do I find any fault with this family for having a dog and it being outside. Now, if it said the dog wasn't taken care of or was always outside (especially given our Texas weather) or the dog was neglected in anyway that would be different, but don't jump to conclusions. It says that no where.
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Posted: 6:33:46 PM 5/29/2005
I hear you Gina. The vet issue bothered me too. I would also have done the same thing. Our pound here in Houston is no place anyone would want their pet to go to. It's called the BARC facility. They have somewhat cleaned up their act however it is still a horrid place. They arestill high kill happy & do not like working with rescues, nor with our local SNAP group. (Spay, Nueter Assistance Group). Due to recent exposure as they have been all in the paper, news etc.they are making a few changes. The employees used to play slide the puppy or kitten down the drain amoungst other horrible things.

I certainly don't blame them for taking the dog to their vet instead of BARC where he easily could have gotten "lost" in the system & killed. The vet at Barc already was in the news not long ago for not coming down to BARC one evening a shot dog was brought in. He said it could wait to be looked at the following morning. No pain meds, nothing! UGHHHHHH!
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Posted: 6:50:39 PM 5/29/2005
I have been married t a fireman/paramedic in Dallas, Tx, and my 2nd marriage is to a federal police officer. Thankfully they were never in that position. But I would rather they would wound the animal then be mortaly injured in a conforntation. The dog is alive and the person is alive. Not the dogs fault, because he was just doing his job. Not the police officers fault because in the heat of the action, you don't really think that there might be a big diggie waiting to take a piece outta me. thank god both are alive.
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Posted: 7:21:01 PM 5/29/2005
I understand that completely skittles. And a big thank you to your husband. I was really just ticked at the comment about it being the owners fault. Maybe it was, hopefully it wasn't, but we certainly can't make that leap to the conclusion.

Rhonda, our animal control is the same way. They have been in plenty of trouble. No way would I let one of my dogs go there, fine or not.
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Posted: 7:57:54 PM 5/29/2005
Gina, that is so true, I don't know if something is going to happen when my dogs are out, and the dog would have gotten the bad guy if he went over that particular fence. But maybe the the cop went over the wrong fence, thus running into the doggie. his job would have been easier if the bad guy went over that fence.

It always make me on guard when my dogs are out, and I am always within sight of them, even though we are fenced in.
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Posted: 8:45:15 PM 5/29/2005
Actaully, the officer did everything wrong. First off, he should have LOOKED to check if the dog was there in the first place, and ask about him. Then, he should have kept his distance. Obviously no buglar would be in there with that huge dog, and the dog would have known. ANd shooting is crazy, JUST BACK UP, it doesn't matter how far, just back up and leave.

Whats done is done. Don't make that family give their poor dog to animal control.
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Posted: 10:06:01 PM 5/29/2005
It sounds to me like it was day light out, if your looking for a suspect don't you clear an area before you enter it, how do you miss a big dog like that? If he really didn't see it fine, but sounds kind of strange to me.
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Posted: 10:25:52 PM 5/29/2005
Two sides to every story....always!!! Cops have a tough job, my best buddy is the local sheriff and I would not take his job for anything. Regardless of how brave an individual is he/she could have a serious dog phobia. Hindsight is 20/20...lots of coulda, woulda, shoulda. Feel bad for everyone involved. Can almost assure you that the officer feels terrible about the whole deal, though not as bad as the doggie. Lack of surrendering the dog to animal control and receiving a summons is a pile of steaming horse dung. As long as the rabies is current whats the big deal??
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Posted: 10:33:57 PM 5/29/2005
Horse dung, darn good way to put it. You know, even if the dog didn't have it's rabies shots, as long as it was taken to a vet I don't see the problem.
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Posted: 9:56:32 AM 5/30/2005
Hi everyone, just took a moment to stop by and saw this thread. First of all, I DO believe LEO's have the right to "shoot to kill" in defense of their lives or someone else's. With a son-in-law who is a Deputy Sheriff, and lvong my Pyrs, I'd guess you could say I have a vested interest in both sides of this situation.

The link wasn't working when I tried it, so have to go one what's here to try to figure out what happened. If I read this right, there was no "pursuit" that lead the officer into the backyard. he was responding to a possible burglary call, not specified in the above as to the fact if it was at this house or another. Like everyone else, I am happy to see that the officer in question was either a poor shot or shot to injure the dog long enough to extricate himself/herself.

I guess my questions would be,
1) With Pyrs KNOWN to be barkers (and I can testify to THAT one), didn't the officer realize that there was a BIG dog making all that noise BEFORE there was any physical contact made? Pyrs are NOT known to be sneeky, they anounce their presence, warning off anyone who is within their "territory". Loud and clear.
2) How did the officer miss something as LARGE as a Pyr in broad daylight?

If it were a case of "hot pursuit", running after someone, then I can see how it would all move so quickly there would only be time to react, rather than act. Since it wasn't stated that way, I have to wonder why there was no knock on the door if nothing else, to check on the welfare of the family inside.

I also find it curious as to why the would fine the folks for using their regular vet. Since they DO have one, it would be a simple enough matter for LEO to check with the vet on the animal's shot record and any history he/she might have on the dog, while they made every effort to save the dog's life.

It reads as if, even though the officer didn't shoot to kill, they would have been just as happy to let the dog bleed to death in order to have the ASPCA verify that it was ot rabid. Not necessary when the records were easily enough obtained.

All in all, I am pretty sure there MUST be more to the story than what I've seen, but I can tell you that if a deputy came into my fenced yard and shot my dog, I'd have one heck of a lot of questions for somebody and they'd be pretty insistant questions.

Sorry my reply was SOOOOOO long~sigh
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Posted: 11:00:43 AM 5/30/2005
Applause for Pyrmom, you said it just right!
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Posted: 8:39:08 PM 5/30/2005
Thanks Gina. We had a situation here MANY years ago. Sheba, our Black Lab, woke us up at about 3 in the morning, barking and growling like mad, very unusual for her. Hubby and I followed her to the sliding glass doors, where we saw a flashlight shining in our (fenced) back yard, on the far side of the shed.

Hubby opened the sliding glass doors and let Sheba out, where upon someone said, "Sheriff's Dept.! take your dog back inside or I will let my K-9 lose on it or shoot it!"
Have to tell you, hubs was none too pleased about being awoken at 3 a.m., and he wasn't very pleasant. He told the deputy (I'm being very polite here as we DO have children on the board!) that if he turned that K-9 lose on Sheba or shot her, he was gonna' come out there and shot the K-9, then the deputy! I DID call Sheba back in as soon as they identified themselves as deputies, but I can tell you that more than a couple of dogs' hackles were raised that morning! All's well that ends well. We unlocked both the gate and the shed for a thorough search and the deputy apologized and they went on their merry way.

There were 5 or 6 deputies, they wanted to check out our shed, looking for a fleeing felon. OK, PEACHY..you have my permission! PLEASE don't walk off and leave a criminal hiding on my property, BUT since you thought the guy somehow managed to escape into my LOCKED fenced yard and/or locked shed, AND since there were 6 of you, did it ever occur to you to knock on the bleeding door to make sure the fleeing felon hadn't gotten into the house and done away with us all???? we can laugh about it now, probably 20 years later, but it wasn't so darned funny then!
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