What if your dog got shot by a police officer by mistake?

I read this story in dogster. It was just awful and disturbing!

The stupid officer reasoned that he thought the dog was a pitbull. I was in disbelief with his petty reason. If you went directly to the source of this news, you'll be able too see a picture of Lillie, who has more resemblance to a border collie than a pitbull.

And what's more surprising is, the police officer or the department he was in didn't even apologize for being in the wrong house and shooting their dog. That's just plain painful for the owners.

 

There should be cases filed against such officer.
That was animal cruelty and even it was a pit bull, I do not think that was enough to kill a dog not unless it was attaching him or attacking someone else.

 

Who cares if it's a pitbull or not? If she wasn't attacking him or making any move that indicated she might, there was no reason to even consider drawing a gun against her!

 

That police officer is wrong on a number of points. The most important point is that he is on private property without permission. That's unlawful trespassing. In Thailand, you can shoot that police officer through the head and the law is on your side. Are the laws about private property so different in the US?

 

If it is law enforcement, then he is allowed to be on the property. He cannot enter the house without a warrant, but to walk onto the property and up to the door to knock or something? Perfectly fine. And considering he was called to the scene of a theft and simply got the address wrong, then no, he wasn't technically doing anything wrong.

Other than shooting the dog, of course...

 

I see. So it's somewhat different.

In Thailand, private property is defined as what your title deed says. Which means that it starts from the boundary of your property. And anyone, including a police officer, has to ask for your permission before he can enter your private property. Hot pursuit and court search warrants are another matter.

Any way, in the case under discussion, there was no hot pursuit involved and no search warrant issued either. Just a follow-up on a call. And getting the address wrong is a very lame excuse. Mistaking the dog for a pit bull is perfect evidence of an advanced case of total blindness, a condition which makes anyone absolutely unfit to be a member of the police force.

We will see how this develops. If it gets swept under the thick carpet of bureaucratic indifference, then it's high time for all dog-lovers and lovers of peace to unite, stand up and scream for justice.

Sorry for getting carried away. Just can't help myself when I think of how the poor dog was killed.