Hot Topic (7/16): Was the shooting of this pitbull justified?
From the Atlantic Journal Constitution:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In Darryl Vinson’s words, a bad situation turned into tragedy when a domestic dispute resulted in his dog being shot by Cobb County Police.
The incident happened July 10 after Vinson and his girlfriend, Vanessa Outzs, got into an argument at the home they share in Vinings, he said. According to the warrant for his arrest, Vinson, 26, pushed his girlfriend out of the door to the home and locked it, prompting her to call police to have him removed.
Two officers burst into the house through the garage door, he said, and told him to freeze. Ruckus, his purebred American Pit Bull Terrier, didn’t know that command.
What happened next is unclear.
According to Vinson, Ruckus tried to leave the room through the garage, and Vinson said he told the officers the dog isn’t aggressive and wouldn’t bite or harm. The first officer walked past Ruckus, but the second officer opened fire, killing the dog, he said.
“He never barked or showed aggressive tendencies toward the officers,” Vinson said. “If my dog jumped or bit the officers, I’d completely understand. But he was just a good dog.”
Cobb County Police Spokesman Joe Hernandez said in a statement released Wednesday that officers heard loud barking from inside the apartment and the dog “made aggressive movements towards an officer on-scene.”
Hernandez said the officer “took steps towards stopping the dog, but those attempts failed.”
It’s unclear what steps the officer may have taken. The incident report does not indicate whether the dog was acting aggressively. The report states the “100-pound pit bull ran into the garage and was shot three times” by an officer.
Hernandez added: “The officer felt threatened, and felt that his safety and the safety of the other officers and citizens on scene were in jeopardy. As a last resort he fired his duty weapon at the pit bull. It was an unfortunate incident, and we never want something like this to happen. However the safety of our officers and the citizens of Cobb County are our highest priority.”
Vinson said Ruckus was shot in his feet and neck. As his girlfriend ran into the house upon hearing the shots, Ruckus crawled back inside whimpering and died soon after, he said.
“It like was shooting a family member,” Vinson said. “He was our baby. [My girlfriend] didn’t think it was going to happen like this.”
Outzs could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.
Vinson was arrested for trespassing; however, the incident report indicates both Vinson and Outzs live at the home in the 2100 block of Cumberland Parkway. Vinson was also charged for simple battery.
He purchased Ruckus for $2,500 from a breeder less than a year ago and said the dog had successfully completed obedience training through area pet stores. Ruckus would have turned 1 on Monday.
“As a police officer, he should’ve recognized the dog [wasn’t being aggressive.] But he just started shooting. It happened so fast.”
He and his girlfriend are no longer together, he said. Both of them are struggling with what happened to Ruckus, a playmate of their other dog, a Maltese-Shih Tzu mix, he said.
“[Vanessa is] feeling awful. She loved him as much as I did.”
* * *
Your reaction? Do you think the police were justified in shooting the dog?
What consequences should the police officers face, if any?
. the police report said nothing about agression on the dogs part. i dont belive hes being truthful
He said-she said. Who knows? Maybe the dog was being aggressive, and if he was the officer may have needed to do it...maybe the dog wasn't and it was unnecessary.
There is no way to know.
Let me say, it is a hard to decide what to do when you hear a pit bull , they are dangerous if the owner treats them wrong and they are very protective, but the officer was affaid of it i am sure of that. I am sorry the officer jumped the gun and shot the dog. he should have asked the owner to send the dog into another room. I am definaltly afaid of pits myself and i have shot two myself and i regreat it in one form but not the other. I was being treatend by the owner so i didn't have a choice but if the owner didn't treaten the officer with the dog he should not of shot the dog.
I love most dogs and they all will bite if they feel theatend. all aminals are part of god world and we should be carefull of that.
God bless us all human and animal alike.
bama mom living to the fullest
Going by the info presented I would have to say No this shooting wasn't justified. It sounds like the cop panicked because he saw a pit and fired. It's sad that bad owners have given pits a bad reputation so that so many people freak at the sight of them.
As far as consequences for the officer, I don't know if it would be possible to prove that he overreacted so I don't know.
Thank God......it's Friday!!!
going by the article no. the cop was lying. but if it came near me or my sons, i can't say i wouldn't have the same reaction..
about six months back, our neighbor's pitbull wandered out of their house, and into my yard.. my son,husband, and i were out front getting rid of the weeds. we both turned our backs for less than a minute, and there it was... it was standing infront of my two year old son... just staring.. he was very tense.. my son loves all dogs.. so he reached his hand out and said, "puppy..." i started screaming at my husband, because the dog looked ready to pounce my son.. my husband grabbed his knife and drew the blade.. i grabbed a shovel, and just as my husband was about to stab the dog, the neighbor ran out screaming for the creature.. that hag knew her dog was outside with no leash on... just because a pitbull is great with you and yours, it doesn't mean its like that with all...
There are too many things left out of the story. Great that the dog did "PetSmart" training (or whatever store)...but we don't know what other training or commands the dog may have known. The owner could have said one word to make the dog attack, if it were trained in such a way...we'll never know. We also don't know if the dog truly did make the cop feel threatened. The cop is not in a position during a domestic to "reason" with a dog that may act agitated. If a fight between the owners was happening, and then the cops show up to arrest the guy, the dog would have already been agitated and stressed...would have only taken the slightest thing to set it off maybe.
This actually sounds like a half story to me by the media. I can understand the police shooting the dog as just the name to me is almost aggressive in itself. Pits are not even allowed in our neighborhood because of the ability that they have to be aggressive. I personally don't know much about them other then what I have been told but I wouldn't own one especially if I had younger children....I think someone else said that nobody will ever really know the truth and I believe that but I don't believe that the dog cost 2,500.00....That's more then ridiculous to me and seems like he is just trying to get money compensation.
I wasn't there, didn't witness what actually happened. Of course the owner is going to say his dog did nothing. I find it hard to believe a Police Officer would shoot a dog without warrant. The story is vague. The Officers say the dog was aggressive, I'd shoot an aggressive dog if it were a threat to me. I love dogs, but since I don't know the whole story, I'm siding with the Police. I don't think they should face any consequences. The guy shouldn't have locked his girlfriend out, then his dog would still be alive. I think it was a case of a bad, irresponsible dog owner. The poor animal had to suffer the consequences because of him. That's the tragedy.
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Quoting Imsupermom2:
This actually sounds like a half story to me by the media. I can understand the police shooting the dog as just the name to me is almost aggressive in itself. Pits are not even allowed in our neighborhood because of the ability that they have to be aggressive. I personally don't know much about them other then what I have been told but I wouldn't own one especially if I had younger children....I think someone else said that nobody will ever really know the truth and I believe that but I don't believe that the dog cost 2,500.00....That's more then ridiculous to me and seems like he is just trying to get money compensation.
Yes, some breeds can cost that much. I have a friend that breeds Mastiff's, and due to their lineage, they go for more.
The wouldn't be compensation (well in my state anyway), because the dog is "only" property.
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on Jul. 16, 2009 at 2:15 AM