A police officer in the sleepy burg of Alexander, Arkansas is responsible for the latest incident of “puppycide” after busting a cap into the head of a beloved family pet in front of it’s shocked owner.The dog, a large Mastiff-Shar Pei was mortally wounded by the jumpy cop and later had to be “put down” in an act of mercy as it was obvious that the dog would not recover. The new phenomenon that is the shooting of dogs by police is evidence of a very troubling state of law-enforcement in America. I mean for God’s sake, why do these guys continue to insist on summarily executing poor, unarmed animals who don’t have a chance? It seems to be an intimidation tactic and a power trip by uniformed government thugs hellbent on sending a message to the human owners not to fuck with them.
The shooting of the latest victim, which was named “Boo” is detailed in a story on the local website Arkansas matters entitled "Family Looking for Answers after Officer Shoots Dog":
A family is grieving tonight over the loss of their dog shot by an Alexander police officer on Thursday.
The officer says he felt threatened, but the dog's owners' say something else.
In a police report, issued by the Alexander Police Department, the officer describes a vicious dog that came at him.
But the pet's owners say that's just not true.
They call the Mastiff/Shar-Pei mix a sweet dog with a big bark, but no bite.
Linda Barton says she saw an Alexander police officer shoot her dog in the head.
Barton says police came to her home after she called about an issue involving her grandson.
She says the issue was never resolved and now Barton faces another one.
Her granddaughter Kailey Northern said, "She was just beside herself. She was just traumatized.
She was just crying and screaming on the phone he shot my dog, he shot my dog."
Barton said the dog, named Boo, got away from her and circled the officer with his tail wagging.
She says he was being protective but never tried to hurt the officer.
But the police report states something different.
The officer says the dog ran aggressively towards him.
He says he couldn't get back in his car and as a last resort fired one shot at the dog to stop the threat.
But Boo was still alive.
Northern said, "It was inhumane how he went about the situation."
The family says the officer left the home, not offering to help the suffering dog.
After calling local vets, the pet owners realized he wouldn't survive and put Boo down.
The family would like to talk to the Alexander Police Department about their policies on aggressive dogs and perhaps making some changes so this doesn't happen again.
We did talk to the police chief briefly about this incident, he sent us a news release on the police report yesterday.
But today, we could not get a hold of him to answer questions on the department's aggressive dog policy and training.
Regarding the “department’s aggressive dog policy and training”, Alexander Police Chief Horace Walters has just implemented a policy to “shoot and kill” dogs if they are “threatening a person’s life”. While the policy specifically mentions “stray” dogs that has obviously been waived if you happen to be a member of the local Deputy Dawg police force.
Poor training and lax procedures are a given with many American police departments in 2014, one needs only to pay attention to the daily reports of “puppycides”, beatings, shootouts that end up with innocent bystanders dead and rampant harassment to see this trend. But more ominously it almost seems like police running amok has become standard operating procedure here in The Homeland.
Notable from the story on Arkansas Matters are a few of the comments which I found to be of interest. For example one respondent who goes by the name of “Dan Canfield” asks:
Why is it that cops are the only ones who seem incapable of dealing with dogs without killing them? Somehow the mailmen, UPS drivers, etc, etc. manage to survive their daily encounters with dogs without killing them..
This is one heck of a good question too. Delivery drivers, process servers, census takers, mail carriers and even pizza delivery personnel manage to perform their duties despite the presence of dogs, often growling ones and have done so for years. But those jobs are not exactly the type of gigs that attract authoritarian types with an ax to grind and psychological/anger management issues. It just seems that the standards of what it takes to be a police officer have devolved over the years from “to protect and serve” into “to bully and humiliate”.
This probably has as much to do with a culture that glorifies violence and the reverence of the police as seen in thousands of television shows and movies as the militarization of the country itself post 9/11. Particularly with the endless series of Middle Eastern wars that are ongoing and bipartisan. It is all extremely profitable and greatly benefits corporations and connected individuals within the military-police-surveillance industrial complex despite the mushrooming social costs of living in a country that becomes less free every day.
If you happen to be a dog owner give your pet an extra hug and bit of attention today and pray that the midnight knock doesn't come to your home.
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