that leads to dead dogs.
Sharon Kulers heard her Dalmatian barking outside, so she made her way to the back yard.
She saw a Mount Olive Police Department cruiser pull up to the house behind hers.
Then she noticed the shotgun in one of the officer's hands, aimed at her neighbor's 45-pound Labrador retriever.
"I said, 'Please don't shoot that dog. He won't hurt you,'" Mrs. Kulers said.
The officer looked at her, then back at the dog.
A shot rang out -- then, another.
"I said, 'Why did you have to do that? You didn't have to do that,'" Mrs. Kulers said. "He said, 'It showed its teeth.' He said, 'We have a right to do this.'"
"It showed its teeth." At a stranger at the fence. So he shot it, as is his 'right'. Just bleepin' wonderful, isn't it? And the department was so considerate in notifying her:
Colby Mangum arrived home at 7:45 and was greeted by a note on her front door.
"It said, 'Call the Mount Olive Police Department about your vicious dog,'" the 24-year-old Mount Olive College graduate said.
Immediately, she thought of her Rottweiler, Bella.
"Because of her breed and her size, I could understand if she got loose and scared someone," Ms. Mangum said.
But "never" would she have imagined that the note was in reference to her 2-year-old, "undersized" Labrador.
Isn't that just so, compassionate?
What started this mess?
The neighbor who called the police was "really upset," too, Ms. Mangum said.
She was in her yard collecting sticks and pinecones when she mistook a playful lunge for one of aggression, she told her neighbor.
"She said (Durham getting shot) wasn't her intention," Ms. Mangum said. "That wasn't what she wanted. Not even close."
Lesson if you live in Mount Olive: don't complain to the cops about a dog unless you want it dead.
When the officer showed up at her home, he showed no sympathy, she said.
"He was very cold, very rude," Ms. Mangum said. "He said, 'Well ma'am, that's procedure."
Nearly the same thing the shooter told Mrs. Kulers hours earlier.
Police Chief Ralph Schroeder said based on the report he has seen, his men were justified in using lethal force.
Calls to his office to get the name of the officer who fired the shots were not returned Friday. The notice left on Ms. Magnum's door was signed by "S. Parks."
They were called by a neighbor who said the dog was acting aggressive, the dog "showed its teeth" to officers, and even "lunged" at one of them, he said.
But at the scene, the department official sent to discuss the incident told Ms. Mangum that the dog was too far away to spray with mace, requiring two shotgun shells instead.
"From what I have seen in the reports, that is what it says. The dog was being aggressive," Schroeder said. "(Our officers) attempt to get the owner to control their animal. If we can't, you have to make the decision on what to do with it."
Please note, the dog was in a fenced yard. Dogs consider- rightly- their yard their territory to protect. Stranger shows up and dog 'acts aggressive' and 'shows its teeth', these sorry excuses for lawmen consider that excuse to shoot it. Just absolutely disgusting.
Town Manager Charles Brown said he had no comment other than he had heard about the shooting.
But he did say that that "any time an officer feels threatened, they have the right to respond to that."
'Any time an officer feels threatened'? By a dog in a fence? He has no problem with that?
Now, most PD's call animal control to check on an aggressive dog report, did they here? Why, no.
Wayne County Animal Control director Justin Scally said he is not aware of any calls made to his office from Mount Olive police in reference to the incident -- Thursday evening or since.
"Typically, the 911 center will contact us," he said. "But to my knowledge, we didn't get any calls Thursday."
But Scally did say that he is not aware of any incidents in which a dog was put down by someone on his staff due to aggressive behavior.
Well, obviously your staff is behind the times and not racking up the number of kills the PD is. You gonna get on the ball, or keep acting like an intelligent public employee?
This is a fine example of "I'm a Police Officer and I can do whatever I decide I need/want to", and a prize winning example of 'Law Enforcement- sorry excuse for' AND 'LE While Stupid'.
6 comments:
You guys are getting yourselves a police state to challenge the best of them.
You'll know when you've made it, as the cops will give the guy who blows the whistle on their misdeeds some polonium (to stop him from feeling cold...) the way the KGB did with Litvinenko (you should read his book).
people often behave to animals in the way they'd like to behave to people if they could get away with it.
I suspect that if the cops let their crimminal psychologists look at the dog killers, almost all would be declared un fit/ un suitable for police work
Just clicked on the paper's editorial page for Sept. 23rd. That officer and PD in general aren't in the community's good graces currently. I didn't see a link for editorial comments to their local paper, but I don't think this particular officer is going to be respected by the community in general any longer. Here's hoping (as a former police reservist) this asshat finds himself looking for a job serving Squishies at a Kwikiemart soon.
This shit is really starting to piss me off! All I can say is that if an officer is scared of a dog that's contained by a fence...he is one chickenshit son of a....I need to breathe...I am getting really pissed.
When the default setting for cops becomes that of an occupying force rather than protectors of the public against criminals, the public will respond. And, probably in a manner that police and politicians will find discomforting: if the authorities pose more of a threat than a benefit we'll simply defund them, take away their authority and send them to the unemployment line.
I suspect we're getting closer to that point daily.
It was my mother-in-law who witnessed the event. We were on the phone with her when the shots were fired. Furious doesn't begin to describe our reaction. I think the small town police are getting a wake-up call from the internet and fast-travelling news. I imagine their canine protocols will be rewritten to include contacting the properly trained animal control.
The news about this has--as it should--blown up around here.
Whether out of compassion for animals, or out of concern for public opinion, I believe the Mt. Olive Police will handle future situations differently.
God, I hope so.
And I hope your mom-in-law's all right; the level of stress, I can't really imagine.
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