TheAgitator.com
Puppycide
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009A Pinellas County sheriff’s deputy knocked on Lee Ann Hutts’ door Tuesday night and her dog, Smoke, started barking incessantly.
Within moments, the deputy pulled out a gun and shot Smoke in the head.
That’s about all Hutts and the deputy agree on.
The deputy says Smoke attacked him, and he shot in self-defense.
Hutts said Smoke was barking, but never attacked the deputy. An eyewitness backs Hutts’ account.
[...]
Hutts, 32, and her neighbor Tina Morrow said deputies came to their mobile home park on 28th Street N investigating a burglary report. Unable to find the right home, a deputy went to Hutts’ door.
Hutts, who takes care of a disabled sister-in-law and lives with her fiance and roommate in her mobile home, said her 9-year-old chow-pit bull mix was barking when she opened the door but stopped when she told him to be quiet. She tried to put him in another room but he followed her out. Smoke kept barking but never left her side, she said.
The deputy was agitated, she said, and kicked her dog. Then he shot him.
“I damn near passed out,” Hutts said. “I had blood all over me, I was screaming.”
The deputy left, she said.
Pinellas sheriff’s spokeswoman Marianne Pasha offered a different account based on an incident report from Sgt. Robert McGuire and a supplemental report from a backup deputy.
McGuire, a 24-year veteran, wrote that when he knocked on Hutts’ door he could hear a dog barking. When Hutts answered, he asked her to secure the dog. The dog appeared to charge him, so he shooed the dog with his foot.
“He believed the dog was going to bite him,” Pasha said, so he shot him in the head.
The deputy was unaware that Smoke died. Pasha asked a reporter how the dog was doing and was told he had died.
The cop wasn’t even bitten. He shot the thing in the head because “he believed the dog was going to bite him.” That’s apparently all it takes. The cop’s belief that he’s going to be beaten. Even in the presence of another witness who tells a different story. Even in your own home, on your own property, when you’ve done nothing wrong. They can come into your home, kill your dog, and leave. And there’s not a damned thing you can do about it.
Why couldn’t he have just gone to another house and asked there? Since all he was doing was looking for directions to the house that had been burglarized, there was no reason to stay if the dog’s barking was bothering him.
WT-ever-lovin-F?? That depouty was just there to ask for directions??? Jeebus, HE was the one trespassing, HE could have walked away. But HE didn’t! Grrr.. Thanks for boiling my blood today Radley…
There’s nothing the “law abiding” can do about it, but “law abiding” is no longer synonymous with ‘doing the right thing’. Peaceful people who understand the difference between right and wrong might do something about it. I will. Shoot a family member of mine in my presence and I will respond to that lethal force with lethal force. Do it while I’m not present and I will seek retribution. These cowardly law enforcement types are allowed to get away with these atrocities so often they don’t think twice about committing them. Peaceful people who mind their own business must stop letting them get away with it.
This point’s been made here before: how do mail carriers and meter readers manage to do their jobs without slaughtering pets, and police can’t?
After the revolution this won’t happen anymore.
Its for the children
Good point, but I don’t think anyone buys that slaughtering pets is necessary. It’s about 1) being inclined to slaughter pets, and 2) about what you can get away with.
I’d hazard to guess that 1) those who seek LEO positions are more likely to harbor that sociopathic inclination to slaughter small animals than those who seek mail carriers and meter readers (not all LEO’s, but definitely more than the general population, by a huge margin), and 2) Mail carriers and meter readers are little people. Even if they had that sociopathic inclination to murder your pets, they can’t get away with that crime like an LEO.
Hmmm, well since there is no special classes of people in this country. No royalty. No nobility. We are all equal… I’m going to knock on my neighbors door to ask him how he is. When I see his dog I’m going to shoot it. I always thought one day it could bite me.
It’s odd, I always thought that was something I shouldn’t do. Who knew?
Otter
I think the topper (aside from the now-expected and ubiquitous denial of wrong-doing) is the deputy just left. He shot this woman’s dog in front of her and then left. That is some cold-hearted sh*t.
And this type of thing is just one more reason why I never open my door to the police. If they want to talk to me I pretty much make them talk through the door. I don’t have a dog, just a fuzzy cat, but heaven forbid she go running out the door. I wouldn’t be surprised if they started shooting cats to give them some extra target practice.
http://www.wfsb.com/news/18726175/detail.html
Here in Connecticut, police wait until the rampaging chimpanzee mauls a women, escapes from the house, damages their police cars, opens the car door, and threatens them before actually shooting the animal. Maybe there should be a test to see if officers can tell the difference between rampaging chimps and barking dogs.
I can’t believe the cop didn’t charge Ms. Hutts with “disorderly conduct” or “failure to give a cop directions in a timely manner.” Even odds says she gets charged within 48 hours.
There is a legislative fix for this. The local government funding the purchase of police cars can, as a condition of funding, require special paint jobs on the cars. Remove “To Serve and Protect” and insert in lieu thereof “If You Open the Door of Your Home, We’ll Kill Your Dog.”
So, basically:
The dog barked, Hutts failed to immediately sequester the animal on command, then Officer McGuire drew his weapon and fired at it.
The first instinct of a normal person would be to step back away from the door.
But of course, this pig knows he can shoot with impunity because all his peeps back at the Cop Shop will back him up without question.
Lesson: If you have dogs inside, don’t open your door to police except to receive a warrant. Leave the little chain thing on and talk through the gap. If they ask you to come outside to talk, lock your door behind you.
Be fair. In the case of the chimp they had to call it in and make sure that it wasn’t one of their own having an off-duty bender.
You’re right Bill, that’s really what it will take to fix this (and everything else). After the Restoration we’ll put our public servants back on their leashes.
III
And I’ll make the point again…..how many mail carriers go through the barking, scary dog routine every day and don’t kill the dog? My brother, the retired mail carrier, used to carry something called HALT! It was a Dog Repellent for protection from dog attack…It immediately repelled and subdued dogs when sprayed into the face and eyes. It had a 10 foot range. The active ingredient in it was Capsaicin. He still has a spray can of it that he used to clip on his belt. The date on the product is 1975….so this is NOT a new idea.
I wonder what that same cop does if he’s walking down his neighborhood street in his “off duty” clothes and he encounters a barking, scary dog? (Anyone who runs each day knows what I’m talking about. ) How does the cop deal with this situation if he’s not carrying his weapon? Maybe his normal people brain thoughts kick in when he’s wearing civilian clothes and he figures out what to do instead of shooting first.
Something about putting on that cop or SWAT costume just warps their sense of values.
BTW, what a great job! Do what you want, hurt who you want, lie about it and get away with it….For your average sociopath, what’s not to like…it’s a dream come true!
The escalation of police shooting family pets is simply the implementation of an incremental plan to soften the public up for the police shooting of PEOPLE without cause or without pretext.
Misunderstand a police command or be a nano-section slow at instant compliance to a police command: BLAM!
You’re dead.
They’ll say that they perceived a threat.
Good-bye.
From post 16, Shay:
“Something about putting on that cop or SWAT costume just warps their sense of values.”
That’s called “Compartmentalization”. Humans respond to conflicting data by placing barriers around the conflicting world views, these barriers are reinforced through constant reaffirmation… either from a highly trusted source or through sheer repetition.
The ‘Police Culture’ bombards it’s members with constant reaffirmation of it’s world view much like religious sects do.
So, it’s possible that an ‘otherwise good person’ can be a Police Officer and still buy into the ‘Police Culture’ hook, line, and sinker. Info from their ‘trusted sources’ (Other cops) will be highly regarded, whereas people like us will be denigrated as ‘ whining snots’.
Never, Ever, Ever Open Your Door For Cops….
Even if they are there to ask directions. They will shoot your dog.
A Pinellas County sheriff’s deputy knocked on Lee Ann Hutts’ door Tuesday night and her dog, Smoke, started barking incessantly.
Within moments, the deputy pulled out a gun and sho…
#11 | Garrett J, in all fairness, cops have a lot in common with chimps.
Whim, they already shoot people without cause. Frequently. And overwhelmingly get away with it if it isn’t caught on camera. If it is caught on camera then the LEO is asked to come turn themselves in, and there’s the awkward monkey trial. Look at that Bay Area transit cop who murdered the 22yr old in cold blood.
Only because it was caught on camera was he asked to come into the station, and he’s currently free on bond. Forget for a moment that 99% of the population wouldn’t murder in cold blood (not the same population LEO’s are drawn from), and think about what would happen to you or I if we shot a bound man in the back. Would we be asked to turn ourselves in days later, or be free on bond so easily?
That transit cop is different from us in that 1) he’s inclined to kill in cold blood, 2) he probably would have gotten away with it if there wasn’t video (and they tried to confiscate all the video), and 3) even with video documentation that sociopath is treated like a elite citizen.
“That’s called “Compartmentalization”. Humans respond to conflicting data by placing barriers around the conflicting world views, these barriers are reinforced through constant reaffirmation… either from a highly trusted source or through sheer repetition.”
The same thing happened in the middle ages or in the Bush regime where agents of the State would engage in torture, but when they went off duty they were perfectly nice people.
Sure thereis, unfortunately they are all illegal. Only the cops get the right to destroy another person’s property and get away with it.
I am curious about his though. How hard is it to put the dog in another room and shut the door? I do it with my dogs all the time and still a doorknob is something they have yet to figure out how to work.
Just throwing it out there, but if I am on a jury for a person charged with shooting a cop who shot his/her dog, I will not convict. Even if the cop is shot a year after the incident.
@#20 Claude: Come on, now. Chimps are good people.
But gods, this is just beyond ridiculous now.
There is something you can do about it if you are fast enough and there are corroborating witnesses who really loved the family dog.
I wouldn’t do anything, personally, but I wouldn’t second guess someone who shot a cop who fired at his dog, thinking that the cop was actually shooting at him for no good reason.
Shay (#16) sez: “I wonder what that same cop does if he’s walking down his neighborhood street in his “off duty” clothes and he encounters a barking, scary dog? (Anyone who runs each day knows what I’m talking about. ) How does the cop deal with this situation if he’s not carrying his weapon?”
Except maybe in their shower or in a swimming pool there’s no such thing as a cop who isn’t carrying a gun.
And of course…
“…deputies came to their mobile home park on 28th Street N investigating a burglary report. Unable to find the right home…”
And in conclusion:
“The deputies never found the caller who reported the initial incident, Pasha said.”
That’s some pretty shady burglary report! Looks like 2 guys on a fishing expedition to a trailer park could have easily made the bogus report then conveniently been nearby to respond.
“Whelp! Looks like we’ll have to knock on ALL these here doors looking for drugs… er… the person who called in that burglary!”
“But Jim Bob, it was you who called in that there bogus report!”
“Quiet Enos! I’m'a edumacating you on teh Police Work, here!”
And there’s not a damned thing you can do about it.
There is something you can do about it.
Don’t ever open the door up for cops. Ever.
Yell at them to get a warrant, and then leave the door locked. If they have a warrant, they are going to kick it in anyway.
They want to militarize? Fine, then I’ll Guerrilla-ize.
My dad was a vet. I grew up handling dogs from very small ones to very large ones. Some were agressive, some would cower and only try to bite if I didn’t back off. I was bitten maybe four or five times (mostly by dachshunds).
If my fourteen-year-old self could control great danes, wolfhounds, german shepherds, and bouviers without killing them, there is no reason a cop can’t. The strangest puppycide reports I have seen are the ones where the cops shoot labs (i.e Mayor Calvo). Labs are practically born to love people. The only reason to shoot a lab is if you hate dogs.
#4 | Matt | February 17th, 2009 at 11:55 am
“This point’s been made here before: how do mail carriers and meter readers manage to do their jobs without slaughtering pets, and police can’t?
Mail carriers and meter readers are not licensed to kill by the State. It’s that simple.
Police have license to kill ANY dog they perceive as a threat. As I have demonstrated, a dog may pose a threat by its very existence.
You all know my opinion about this, I am very much against dogs being killed, but almost everyone here focuses on only one side of the problem — unaccountable and empowered LEOs.
The other side of the equation is dog owners. Poor dogs, they are not even part of the equation — they have been conditioned to live with humans and do not do so out of choice.
I’ve done more thinking about this problem, and it is very much like backyard swimming pools. As suburbia grew out of control, not only did backyard swimming pools proliferate but so did dogs as household pets. Just as a certain number of children are sacrificed to the god of the swimming pool every year, so too are a certain number of dogs sacrificed to the god of the household pet.
See, back in the day, dogs were working animals — they served a useful function for which they traded for food and shelter among humans. From specialized functions like sheepherding, hunting, flushing, retrieving, cutting and others to more mundane functions like guarding, dogs have now proliferated into suburbia mainly as pets with no working value.
Unfortunately for dogs, they still retain the dangerous qualities that enabled them to excel at the above specialties, which is well-understood by LEOs but poorly understood by suburbanites. Basically, every household pet dog is considered a guarddog or watchdog by LEOs, and I hate to admit this, but logically they are correct if only because they have the power.
If dogs could be bred or genetically modified to be non-aggressive and everyone including LEOs understood this, then the problem would cease. If suburbanites only owned true working dogs, then the problem would be greatly reduced. But with the bubble in EVERYTHING including dogs and PEOPLE, this is the situation in which we find ourselves.
For dogs, I fear, it is SWAT team roulette from here to eternity.
More later, of course.
What do you mean if? A well breed American Pit Bull Terrier should be extremely non-aggressive towards all humans. They make horrible guard dogs and only moderate watch dogs (i.e. bark at a stranger).
When the police spot a pet dog, they have a Free Pass for:
Live Target Practice.
Dogs, unlike humans, have NO RIGHTS.
And, the police know it.
The Ruby Ridge incident started with the U.S. Marshals’ shooting the Weaver family dog.
The Waco Texas Branch Davidian Camp Meeting and Church Barbecue started with the ATF shooting the Davidians’ pet dogs.
SOP: Standard Operating Procedure.
Shooting family pets is intended to make EVERYONE afraid.
Be afraid is their message.
Be VERY afraid.
#33 | Steve Verdon | February 17th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Cynical: “If dogs could be bred or genetically modified to be non-aggressive…”
Steve: “What do you mean if? A well breed American Pit Bull Terrier should be extremely non-aggressive towards all humans. They make horrible guard dogs and only moderate watch dogs (i.e. bark at a stranger).”
I should have been more clear, but I didn’t have time. I was referring to dogs as a species, not specific breeds. And at any rate, your choice of the word “should” is all the wiggle room a LEO needs to be justified in pulling the trigger.
I have already demonstrated that an almost harmless dog like a toy poodle can still be used as a diversion or decoy by a sniper. A LEO is justified by State power in eliminating this tactic.
Understand that it is the existence of the State that underlies this situation. The meter reader is an individual. The police officer is a State agent. The former has only himself, the latter is backed up by all the power in the world.
To Aresen, who wrote that “the only reason to shoot a lab is if you hate dogs,” I think you need to understand that police officers are trained to act without emotion. I estimate that a vanishingly small percentage of dog shootings are motivated by the emotion of hate. In fact, if hate were the primary motivator for dog shootings by police, there would be almost none. The problem is built into the code by which we live — statist mass suburbanization.
Amen, and well put.
I remember posting several weeks ago that LEOs are “licensed” by the State to kill dogs, and how poorly that statement of fact was received by some commentors.
Now Radley closes his blog post with essentially the same concept: “They can come into your home, kill your dog, and leave. And there’s not a damned thing you can do about it.”
I know of no clearer definition of license. And no one objects now.
[...] Radley Balko’s comment on yet another sad story he’s found, of a deputy (in Pinellas County, Florida) who stopped at a home to ask [...]
I’m sure you’ll agree that one “good” behavior doesn’t negate a “bad” behavior. It must be pointed out that if you perform evil acts, you are evil through and through, no matter what “good” you may do. If not, then (to employ an overused characterization) Hitler and his supporters were decent people.
It first takes getting your dog into the room before you can shut the door. I have large dogs that are sometimes disobedient because, well, they are DOGS. Under normal circumstances they are well behaved, but they are still DOGS. Factor in a person’s mobility, and it is quite easy for a situation to occur for which it’s difficult to get a dog into a room. Ask Sigfried and Roy about tigers.
Dammit, we need a preview button!
Defensive shooting:
“Sorry judge, I shot the officer in the head ’cause I thought he was going to bite me.”
Where do you get this BS?!? Cops without emotion. Most fecking cops aren’t trained at all. I’d say I’ve known well over 200 offiers in my life. My father was a cop during the 50s and has been a gun dealer since that same time. He sells 99% to cops. The cops, ranging from local sheriffs to BP agents, etc all are the same. Primarily it’s about penis size. Cops are dickheads. Cops shoot dogs because they have tiny little dicks and need a boost. A real cop would handle it like the cops in the 50s.
Cops in the 50s took what was dished out and dealt with it. Cops in the 50s didn’t need no fecking counselors to help them through stuff. Brains dripping from the ceiling from a suicide – NBD. Dog coming after you – night stick. Guy pulls a gun – whack him down.
#39 | BamBam
“I’m sure you’ll agree that one “good” behavior doesn’t negate a “bad” behavior. It must be pointed out that if you perform evil acts, you are evil through and through, no matter what “good” you may do. If not, then (to employ an overused characterization) Hitler and his supporters were decent people.”
If I understand this right, I believe this is Manichaeanism, St. Augustine’s doctrine of a good/evil duality. The problem with this doctrine is the lack of an objective norm.
A philosopher I recommend is Delmar England, who wrote “Good is the means suited to the purpose.”
For example, fire, when used to cook food is good, when it burns down your house is evil. Same exact fire. So fire can be both good and evil depending on how it suits the purpose. Same holds true for people. For the US in WWII, an American soldier who kills German soldier is good, a German soldier who kills American soldier is evil. But that scenario would not have been suited to German purposes, so the reverse is also true.
Projection is the act of transferring all of one’s negative (evil) traits onto the other, or the enemy. This is the foundation of war. I believe it is more life-affirming to acknowledge that both good and evil reside in all of us and cope with that fact than deny it and ignore the evil impulses that assemble into such mass violence over time.
The short answer is that there are no “decent” people. A humble person might say, “But for my better nature, there go I.”
Steve V., “Yes, I see your point. You’re right. Lets get rid of all dogs. I suggest a program that will put all dogs to death as quickly as possible. And just to be complete all pets. Birds, cats, and even fish. We can discuss small children at a later date.”
C’mon Steve, that’s your point, not mine. But if you only intended to suggest a modest proposal, then bravo.
If not, then you’ve got me pegged all wrong. No one’s really interested in solving this problem. There’s not really much of a problem, as JJ has identified. Society simply tolerates the sacrifice of dogs for the sake of mass dog ownership as it tolerates child drownings for the sake of mass backyard pools.
Economics.
I won’t argue with you, fwb. You could very well be right, and I’ll grant you your anecdotal evidence.
But if cops do act out of emotion, or weakness, they don’t have to, and it doesn’t matter. A cop acting emotionlessly would be equally justified in shooting dogs given the paradigm in which we live.
These cops are trained to shoot dogs, overtly or covertly. The widespread sanction by the State is evidence of it.
Cynical in CA,
I really want to buy into the whole “we are all the same” hippie philosophy, but I would never shoot someone’s family pet that was not in the process of attacking me. Anyone who does this, regardless of their environment or “conditioning” (self-awareness trumps any appeal to humans being organic robots), is more evil. That our government appears to be actively looking for these types to fill the law (laugh) enforcement role, is scary.
Splitting hairs here. War is an extreme example. I should have specified that the good/evil duality (borrowing your wording) should be considered in the context of less extreme acts, such as the cop that kills a dog but also helps an old lady across the street. War is always contextual and arguable depending on your perspective. Acts that affect communities are more black and white, since their impact is has a limited blast radius.
No hippie here, more. Just simple acknowledgment that people are largely shaped by their environment. One person may be a “good” person under certain circumstances, the same person a “bad” person under others.
Bertoldt Brecht wrote, “First comes food, then comes morality.”
That you wouldn’t shoot a dog is admirable and worth being proud of. I wonder what any of us would do if we felt threatened. But you’re not a LEO acting in official capacity. They are necessarily of a different mindset due to training and observations. They have license.
But to the ones who don’t shoot dogs, I applaud you.
Points well taken, BamBam.
#43
You’re doing it wrong.
“Sorry judge, I shot the officer in the head on information and belief that he was about to kill me.”
Citing US v John Bad Elk at that time is a good idea.
Well first of all if LEO’s are going to automatically assume that any dog they encounter is a threat then we need to train at least one of our dogs to immediatly go for the throat of any LEO officer that steps in the house. When a LEO comes in to ask for directions the viscious dog attack will provide enough time for us to retrieve a gun and inflict some “collateral damage” while we are trying to shoot our own dog to protect and serve the LEO. The dog’s gonna die either way.
One year I read the breakdown of all the cops who were killed that particular year and if I remember correctly about one third of them were killed with their own guns so that right there seems to be a pretty good argument for disarming cops.
I came over here to tell RB he was mentioned in an editorial about SWAT teams (it also mentioned the shooting of Mayor Calvo’s dogs) and what do you know. More cops shooting dogs.
The thing I always wonder is why the dirt bags who give decent cops a bad name don’t suffer “unfortunate accidents” while on the job.
Some time starting in the early 1990s we lost all sense of reason, objective truth and a healthy ability to be judgmental when we need to be. 20 years ago, if a cop came into your home, guns blazing at 2AM over a little bit of pot, even half of the cops would have thought the guy was a fruit loop trying to get someone killed. Today? He’s a fucking hero in a uniform out to save people from the life-destroying menace of that whore Mary J.
@Aresen, #31
I would say a very close second is the recent incident where an Australian Cattle Dog was the victim. The cop/shooter said the dog charged. If, in addition to the breeds you’ve already listed, you’ve handled ACD’s, you can corroborate what I wrote in a comment to that story: ACD’s don’t charge.
They are called blue heelers, because they heel. I promise, if you tell an ACD to heel, it will heel. Tell it to sit, it will sit. And the last thing they do is charge. They wait for commands before they do anything. While they are pretty fierce predators to frisbees and sticks, they pose no threat to any carbon based life form.
The claim that an ACD charged at a person is absurd on it’s face to any person who has ever owned, trained, handled, or known one.
Just throwing it out there, but if I am on a jury for a person charged with shooting a cop who shot his/her dog, I will not convict. Even if the cop is shot a year after the incident.
The prosecution would suppress any evidence that the cop ever shot any dog anywhere. As a juror, you’d never find out about it.
Note that the information would be suppressed because it’s supposedly “irrelevant”, but the truth would be exactly the opposite: prosecutors would suppress the information not because it wasn’t relevant, but because it was.
I’m wary of any claims of universality of behavior, Rick.
A close friend of mine has a 10-year-old 80-pound male ACD named Smokey. My friend does not like having small children around Smokey, because Smokey will try to dominate any creature smaller than he is. While Smokey doesn’t charge per se, he does approach houseguests very assertively. He also nips at people’s heels.
From a LEO’s perspective, all of this is beside the point anyway. A dog is dangerous because it’s a dog, especially a medium-sized dog like an ACD. It may not charge, but it’s going to be dispatched just the same.
@Rick Caldwell # 56
I didn’t handle ACD’s, but only because they didn’t become popular until after I stopped being kennel help.
However, I have seen the breed. They are typical “herder” dogs (like border collies). As CinCA notes, they will nip at the heels of people – actually in an attempt to “herd” them – but it is also a dominance behavior.
There is a border collie where my horse is boarded, we have the damnedest time keeping him out of the paddocks, because he keeps trying to herd the horses by nipping at their back legs. (Someday, he is going to try the boss mare when we aren’t watching him and there is going to be a huge vet bill.) The reason I mention this dog is that his typical greeting for every visitor is to run at them flat out, barking wildly the whole way, then jump up and lick their faces. You can imagine how that would play out in a SWAT raid. (Extremely unlikely as the local cops all know the owner personally and he is as ’square’ as they come.)
It’s amazing how outraged people get about a dog (and rightfully so), but when an innocent black man is shot under the same circumstances, you can’t get some of the very same people to give a damn.
Someone,
You can play the race card where the guilty white liberals hang out, because I think you’ll find most of the people who come here are outraged at the abuses of power in general, not just when it concerns dogs (or white people).
If the dog is dangerous because it is a dog, then what does that make its owner? 5x the threat under this inane reasoning that cops use, and it’s probably only the possibility of being charged with murder that keeps them from shooting up any potential threat.
“If the dog is dangerous because it is a dog, then what does that make its owner? 5x the threat under this inane reasoning that cops use, and it’s probably only the possibility of being charged with murder that keeps them from shooting up any potential threat.” Mike T #62
But the possibility of a cop being charged with the murder of a citizen is pretty much ZERO. Remember, they are always “in fear for their lives.” And if the murder isn’t on video tape, well, we all know how the cops portray that story.
Ironcial–these steriod pumped up goons–these big tough guys are the ones in this society who are always “in fear for their lives.”
You answered your own question, Mike.
Dogs are property.
Humans are persons. For now.
@ CinCA # 64.
LEOs consider your attitude doubleplusungood.
You may become an unperson.
Puppycide…
From the Agitator:
They can come into your home, kill your dog, and leave. And there’s not a damned thing you can do about it.
To which I would add the following, expressed by entirely too many of my peers:
Why would you want to? It isn’t lik…
Dear Regarding Liberty,
Thanks for reaching into your smug white guy bag and pulling out the oh-so-fresh “race card” and “guilty white liberal” catch phrases. But my comment was not meant to insult this discussion or the people here, it was simply to point out that this abuse of power is happening to HUMAN BEINGS every day. Maybe if we start with that, we could figure out how a cop could shoot a dog in the head and claim it was the proper thing to do. Goodbye, I’m done, sorry if I made you mad.
While caring about one’s fellow human is admirable, someone, is it necessary for all human injustice to be resolved before one begins to care about non-human animals?
A friend of mine who started a charity for cancer research is upset by people who donate to animal charities ahead of his. I simply do not understand this attitude.
Freedom is the essence of charity. One must be free to pursue those charities with which one sympathizes, the others be damned.
While caring about one’s fellow human is admirable, someone, is it necessary for all human injustice to be resolved before one begins to care about non-human animals?
Even if one didn’t care about animals, some government agents are deliberately and wantonly destroying many people’s most prized property. Whether or not dogs can be regarded as victims, their owners certainly can.
That’s an interesting way of looking at the problem, supercat. Simply regard the owner as sole victim. From a legal perspective, that’s correct.
That’s an interesting way of looking at the problem, supercat. Simply regard the owner as sole victim. From a legal perspective, that’s correct.
Per the Fifth Amendment, people are not to be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. While it’s unclear what exactly is required under Constitutional “due process”, a lot of people have their dogs slaughtered with no due process whatsoever. That’s just plain unlawful. Too bad nobody calls the totalitarian anarchists to task for it.