the problem of police and dogs

A puppyish foster dog from Lucky Dog Animal Rescue getting his photo taken with a stranger at the at the Adams Morgan festival in Washington, D.C on September 12, 2010.

One hour later, DC Officer Scott Fike has the same dog pinned to the ground with his knee pushed into his back. He then hurled the dog down a concrete stairwell, pulled out his weapon and shot the dog dead in front of shocked witnesses.

Police had been called when the dog (Parrot) and a second dog got into a fight at the event. The caretakers had broken it up and the trouble was over when police arrived and proceded to execute one of the most stunningly inhumane decisions ever captured in photos during a routine dog call.

According to change.org, "The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department "investigated" the incident, as did the Office of Police Complaints. Both recommended that the U.S. Attorney prosecute Officer Fike criminally. Unbelievably, the U.S. Attorney declined. Soon thereafter, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department dismissed Lucky Dog's complaint against Officer Fike. No action was taken against him." Their petition is asking the Metropolitan Police to "change your policies to prevent future tragedies like Parrot's death and once again instill trust in the police department."

We urge you to sign this: Petition

A long history of poor handling of dog incidents by police inspired a new booklet directed at this topic. The U. S. Department of Justice recently published "The Problem of Dog Related Incidents and Encounters," through the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). It was created to help police departments examine and improve the same kinds of policies that rolled out into tragedy in DC in 2010.

Bernard K. Melekian - Director of COPS - states in his forward:

"In the United States, dogs are an integral part of society, which means police engage with dogs quite often in the line of duty. There are a variety of circumstances where a dog could be involved in a police call, and it is critical that police departments not only develop effective departmental strategies advocating for the proper handling of dog-related incidents and encounters, but also proactively create tactical-response strategies, ensuring humane treatment of dogs and safety for the public and officers."

According to COPS research, "In most police departments, the majority of shooting incidents involve animals, most frequently dogs. For example, nearly three-fourths of the shooting incidents in Milwaukee from January 2000–September 2002 involved shots fired at dogs, with 44 dogs killed by officers during that period. Information furnished by various California law enforcement agencies indicated that at least one-half of all intentional discharges of a firearm by an officer from 2000–2005 involved animals."

While reckless owners with problem dogs pose very real problems for officers, the shooting of a dog like Parrot demonstrates how easy it is for an officer to lose perspective and put family pets at risk. According to the COPS report, factors that contribute to the liberal use of firearms on a community's animals are "insufficiently trained police officers" including

• Officers who make judgments concerning a dog they encounter based on its presumed breed or physical appearance rather than its behavior.
• Officers who view a dog running toward them as a threat (the dog could be friendly and merely greeting the officer).
• Officers who are unaware of leash laws or the laws governing potentially dangerous, dangerous, or vicious dogs in their city or state.
• Officers who lack knowledge of available animal-welfare resources.
• Officers who lack skills in handling dogs or reading dog body language.
• Officers who lack needed canine-communication skills.

As police departments play catch-up with humane policies and their obligations to their communities, we continue to urge dog owners to use extreme caution in situations where police may interact with your pets.

To quote our legal affairs director Christine Allen in this blog post, written in response to a local shooting of a bull terrier puppy "... if the police knock on your door, don't assume they're going to be friendly to your dog. In general, if they want to enter your house, they need to knock, and announce who they are. Then, they're supposed to wait a reasonable time (or be refused entrance) before they can do anything else. So, if they come to your door, please put your dog away before you open that door. Without commenting on whether or not police officers are truly justified in shooting a pet because they felt threatened, suffice it to say that officers are granted great leeway in the eyes of the law as to whether their actions were "reasonable" depending on the circumstances. In these situations, oftentimes the only evidence you'll have is your word against theirs. I'm sure that we'd all prefer not to even get to that point. So please, as a matter of precaution, put your dogs safely away when you're not around, and before you open the door to any potential non-dog friendly strangers."

Please be safe and urge your locale police departments to use the COPS booklet to help educate their officers. We don't want you to be this guy: Parrot's foster dad below, just after the shooting.


For more info, Washington Post looked at the incident involving Parrot in this news article.