In Wyandanch, N.Y. two dogs escaped their yard and were shot and killed by the police.

The two Staffordshire bull terriers had gotten loose before but with a very different outcome. On the other occasions they returned, this time they did not.

The owner, Keith Outlaw, realizes he is responsible for the dogs getting out, but according to him both were very friendly and had never harmed anyone. The police say they were driving through the neighborhood when they saw the dogs chasing a group of children, all  got away and were unharmed.  The dogs were eventually cornered into a fenced yard.

Newsday.com has the details on what happened next.

They closed the gate, trapping the dogs inside, and called animal control officers. But as they waited for animal control, the homeowner – an elderly deaf man – stepped out of his house.

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The police department in Zanesville, Ohio continue to get donations pouring in for the care of their police dog Bosco who was shot and left paralyzed.  On August 23rd Bosco and his partner Officer Mike Schiele were attempting to serve two warrants on Dominick Conley, in the process both were shot and wounded.

Schiele is now recovering at home but Bosco who took two shots, one to the neck the other in the chest, is at the Ohio State University Veterinary Hospital in Columbus. Bosco is fighting to regain the use of his legs, he’s making daily strides. He just started standing on his front legs for a bit and is working on trying to stand on his back legs.

Here’s a report on his recovery from Channel 10.

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A Dogster member passed this on to me and when I took a look I was shocked to see it happened right near where I live.

A police officer shot and killed a dog who bit him while walking unleashed with her owner.

The owner of a dog shot and killed by an Acworth police officer says his four-legged best friend, Tomato, wasn’t vicious.

“She just showed up one Christmas Eve – a cold little puppy – and never left my side from then on,” Bower Taylor said Wednesday.

Tomato, a 39-pound Rottweiler-shepherd mix, was shot to death after she bit an officer on the knee more than a week ago.

Acworth police have said the officer was justified in shooting the unrestrained dog.

“He did what he had to do,” Officer Wayne Dennard said.

Taylor, a teacher, even took his pet to his school as part of a “how-to” writing lesson called “How to Train Your Dog.”

“She could be unleashed and hang out with 140 groping, jumpy 13-year-olds, no problem,” Taylor said.

The officer was on foot on Academy Street, near Acworth Beach, when he was bitten by Tomato.

Cobb County has a leash law,  Taylor was issued a citation by animal control.  He now owes $500 in fines. The officer bitten is fine, Tomato is still dead.

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When I first noticed this story I thought it was about the story posted yesterday, the pit bull shooting in Ohio. However, it turns out it was about a shooting of an 11-year-old German Shepard that happened on November 20th in Marion County, Indianapolis.

The police went to Brian Ohler’s mother’s house on Nov. 20th to serve an arrest warrant for him. The yard is enclosed by a chain-link fence about 3 feet tall with posted beware-of-dog signs, according to a police report.

The deputies rattled the fence and searched for a dog. When they didn’t see one, they entered the yard. They went to the front door and then to the garage on the south side of the yard, near Deoge’s dog house.

The police report said Deoge charged the deputies as they were leaving the yard, and one extended his left arm to keep the dog away. Deoge bit Deputy Roger Neitzel’s left hand, puncturing his heavy suede work glove. Deoge continued to charge before the deputies fired nine times and hit him with about five shots, Tingle said.

The dog’s family is bringing suit against the Sheriff’s Department, who allows officers to decide on a case by case basis how to handle potentially threatening dogs, in hopes that a department wide protocol will be developed.

The family wants the protocol put into place so the department would have specific rules as to when it’s acceptable to use deadly force, versus other forms of non-deadly protection.

This scenario is playing out across the country, it is not an isolated incident.  Law enforcement departments need to train their officers so they are properly prepared for these types of situations.  “These cops are going into situations not knowing if their lives are put in danger by a dog,” deputy manager of animal cruelty issues for the HSUS Dale Bartlett said. “That’s the crux of the problem.”

Better police policy needs to be adopted nationwide, local advocacy groups such as Move to ACT are helping bring national attention to this issue.

* The picture above is courtesy Danese Kenon/The Star

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