4 ms·
Why are guns even used on dogs? Shouldn't there be a way to sedate aggressive dogs? I just don't understand. Getting shot by a gun as a human or dog is almost a
by perryh2 13y ago
Why are guns even used on dogs? Shouldn't there be a way to sedate aggressive dogs? I just don't understand. Getting shot by a gun as a human or dog is almost always going to be fatal.
- epochwolf 13y agoDart guns are finicky, short-ranged, and require special training to use properly. Darts are manually loaded with the dosage before each shot, they aren't stored ready to use. They also take minutes to work if the dart hits in the correct muscle. A hit to the head or shoulder blade will just break the needle and piss off the dog. A dart gun is useless for stopping animals that are attacking. That's why there is always someone with a shotgun ready to kill the animal that's being darted.
- voidlogic 13y agoSedation is not realistic, usually only animal control officers have them and even then they usually don't have it with them. BUT... Every officer near where I live carries a nightclub/billy stick/baton etc. I've been in situation with aggressive dogs out in the country and often a simple kick is enough to back them off... Discharging a firearm at a fast moving animal is reckless and begging for a bystander to be injured.
- aidenn0 13y agoThey kicked the dog before shooting it.
- dthunt 13y agoCorrection. They PROVOKED the dog before shooting it.
- angersock 13y agoI'm not sure a crippling beating with a nightstick would be a kindness--if you were the cop in question, faced with a dog that size lunging at you, you're probably not going to go for a love tap.
- nknighthb 13y agoBeating a dog (or person, for that matter) into submission stands a better chance of leaving them alive at the end of the day than shooting them repeatedly does. But neither were necessary. The dog snapped at the cop when the cop reached for it in a high-tension situation. The cop is a complete moron.
- angersock 13y agoThe cop is likely following the training he was given, which is to shoot attacking animals--it's a lot cheaper to replace a dog than to hospitalize a cop, and ultimately the officer's life is worth more than the dog. I love dogs, I've lived with several (medium and large), but you don't mess around with something like that if it decides to get dangerous. This is the same reason that cops are trained to shoot center-mass and until the attacker is down; this officer responded quickly under stress and safely dispatched his attacker, preventing possible serious injury to both himself and his partner. If you want to argue that the cops shouldn't have cuffed the guy, I'd absolutely agree. A polite "Now, son, why were you phoning at us?" would've avoided all this nonsense. I can't in clear conscience disagree with the self-defense the officer used.
- jlgreco 13y agoIt works for everyone who isn't a cop, it should work for cops too.
- aidenn0 13y agoAnimal control has ways to sedate aggressive dogs; police have guns. Every police officer I have talked to has been trained to shoot a loose dog that is acting aggressive towards them.
- epochwolf 13y agoYes but animal control needs time to select the dose of the sedative and prepare the dart (or jab stick). This isn't a video game. Also animal control traps or nets the animal before attempting to sedate it. You can't just stick the needle anywhere.
- aidenn0 13y agoI think you misunderstood my comment, since I agree with every word of your reply. Cops don't have tools to capture aggressive animals because it's not their job and not what they are trained for.
- vinceguidry 13y agoNot what they're trained for? One of their jobs is to handle domestic disturbances and what do you find in domestic settings? Dogs. So every time a dog doesn't like what you're doing, you shoot it?
- to3m 13y agoWhat are you going to do? Put chloroform over its nose? Inject it with a sedative? Spray it with something? May I ask whether you have you ever owned a dog? ;) I can't think of any quicker and overall safer means of sedation than simply shooting it in the head. It's sad that a dog has to die, but compared to the mess an angry dog can make, its life is simply not worth much. Not that I really want to sound like I'm defending the policepeople in question here, because that dog shouldn't have died - but it shouldn't have died because there shouldn't have been a situation where they needed to shoot it, not because shooting an attacking dog is the wrong thing to do. (Yes, I have had a dog. I loved it very much, and it seemed to return the favour. But you have to be clear-eyed about these things.)
- mayanksinghal 13y agoI have owned a dog in past, and I was able to calm him down when he used to get angry. And I believe that would have been the case with the dead dog and the person who was in cuffs for no reason.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]