News Hound

All too often, there are stories in the news about cops shooting dogs - not because the dogs have clearly and viciously attacked an officer in the line of duty but because the officer, usually without justification, has felt threatened.

Are there repercussions? No. Apologies? No. Acknowledgements of wrongful actions? No.

This storyline came up again last month when Egypt, an American Staffordshire Terrier, was shot by San Diego undercover officers. It was not an isolated incident, and it's worth discussing here because police, far too frequently, shoot peoples' pets without cause.

By all accounts, Egypt was a happy, friendly dog. "She was the delightful nuisance of the neighborhood," Chris Victor told San Diego City Beat. "She'd see you and she'd wag from head to toe."

On Dec. 2, her owner, Demarkus Peeples, remembers hearing a knock at the door of the bungalow he shares with his mother. A group of men dressed in jeans and T-shirts - they were later identified as narcotics officers answering a call about a "chemical smell" -- was standing on the porch.

Unsure who they were or what they wanted, Peeples did not answer. Instead, he stood in the doorway of a bedroom and watched. Rather than identify themselves, two of the men opened a gate to the backyard and walked to the rear door.

"It looked like they were trying to case my house," Peeples recalled. After a few moments, the men returned to the front of the house without closing the gate. Peeples opened the back door and looked around. Egypt ran out the door, then continued past the gate when she saw that it had been left open.

What happened next changed everything. The dog ran toward the officers, who responded with shots. Egypt was hit three times (none of the shots was fatal) and was later euthanized by San Diego County Animal Control officers, who say Peeples gave them permission to put her to sleep. Peeples disputes that claim, insisting he told them, "Do not kill my dog; do everything you can to save my dog."

Amazingly, Peeples was arrested on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon - his dog. He remembers one officer saying, "Charge him with everything you can charge him with."

San Diego Police later acknowledged that Egypt did not attack the officers but said they were within their rights to shoot her. "The animal was charging the officers," a spokeswoman said. "They weren't going to wait to see if (she) was actually going to bite them."

There are similar stories. Blogger Radley Balko writes of a recent incident in Waldorf, Md., in which police shot a family dog in front of two small children while attempting to serve papers on a man who no longer lived at the address. And a Milwaukee resident who is suing the city after police shot her Labrador-Springer Spaniel mix in 2004.

It's puzzling why police should react so quickly when there is little indication they're in danger or are being attacked. A barking dog, or one that is simply protecting its property, is not always preparing to pounce on an officer. Perhaps, as Balko suggests, a little police training on how to deal with dogs might prevent more senseless killings of pets.