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Animal Rights
Outrage in Austin: Cop Shoots & Kills Dog
Anger is growing in Texas and on the Internet over a police officer who shot and killed a pet dog.
Over the weekend an officer responded to a report of a domestic disturbance at a house in Austin. The officer didn't know it at the time, but the person who called 911 to give the report provided the wrong address.
For some reason when Officer Thomas Griffin got out of his car, his weapon was drawn, confirms the Austin Police Department.
He came up against a man, Michael Paxton, and his dog, Cisco.
On audio from the dashboard cam, Griffin can be heard ordering Paxton to put his hands up and control the dog. But the dog came charging at Griffin, so he shot him. That part of the video was not released.
Paxton admitted that the dog did run towards Griffin.
“He did challenge him. He came out of the yard barking, running towards him, as he probably would for anybody,” said Paxton.
While police investigate, the story has taken off online. Nearly 40,000 people have "liked" a Facebook page called "Justice for Cisco" that Paxton started.
He wrote on Tuesday:
Good morning everyone. Another tough morning. Once again I woke up in the middle of the night and reached out for my Cisco, before I remembered that he is gone.
Yesterday was a whirlwind. I could barely keep up with all the calls, emails, texts from everywhere.
I want to give my sincerest thank you's to the local news channels for reaching out to me and offering support for Cisco. They have been instrumental in revealing the facts of this tragedy.
All of you that have "liked" this page have made this happen. I could never have gotten the word out alone. Your responses and support have warmed my heart. I can never thank you all enough for your support. It has been my strength at a time when things look hopeless.
Today is another opportunity to continue to spread the word and make things happen.
Lets keep this momentum going.
I am going to move mountains for my sweet boy The Cisco Kid.
Here is the dashcam video:
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Comments
The only thing the cop didn't
The only thing the cop didn't get wrong in this encounter is the going to the wrong address part, since the story states that the person calling 911 gave the wrong address.
Is it standard practice to walk into a possible domestic dispute situation with your handgun drawn? Husband-wife/boyfriend-girlfriend arguments can get heated, but pulling a gun on folks in that state of mind will provoke more extreme behavior.
Just what about seeing someone playing in their yard with their dog led the "officer" to conclude that the proper response was to point a gun at the guy and scream "show me your hands!"
Being control in a situation does not necessitate having all parties in a situation at your complete mercy and covered by your gun. What kind of pansy-ass cops does Austin have that they fear for their lives at the approach of someone's little pet? He wasn't being bitten, and the dog was doing exactly what people own dogs for half the time - to make people think twice before attacking their owners in their own yards. Who expects a dog not to be agitated and aggressively trying to ward attackers off when they and their owners are being threatened in their home territory? Isn't Texass one of those "defend your castle" and "stand your ground" states? Is it reasonable for people to start demanding that animals stop behaving like animals and start reading the crazy laws us humans make up?
I wouldn't ever want to trust my life to an officer like this who demonstrates that even in mild situations like this, he has really poor judgement.
And meanwhile, the person across the street who called 911 had to wait how much longer for police to arrive to deal with their life-or-death situation?
Maybe the officer had seen
Maybe the officer had seen this report from the UK http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/mar/22/dog-mauls-five-police-officers Shocked me when I saw that and I sure wouldn't be taking any chances.
Free Samples
Frankly, I see nothing
Frankly, I see nothing terribly wrong with the police officer shooting an animal that is charging towards him, whether it is a pet dog or rabid squirrel. The owner should have called the dog off, and if the animal was not properly trained then that is the owner's problem. Certainly, the police could taser the animal, and I'm sure all the dog fans in Texas would come out in droves and also criticize the police. The problem with so many in this nation is that we don't take responsibility for our pets and yet claim our rights are being violated. I'm sorry, but in any civilized society rights come with responsibilities. If you don't train your pet how to behave, this kind of outcome is likely to occur. I'm sorry for the pet owner, but that's the way the cookie crumbles.
Special non-lethal dog
Special non-lethal dog stopper is called "pepper spray". The cop got out of his car with gun in hand. Cop's command was "put your hands up" AND "control the dog." Which one do you comply with looking down the barrel of a gun? If Paxton had reached for the dog's collar, HE risked getting shot.
This conflicting command made it easy for the cop to get away with shooting something.
As for this statement,"Now no human would have the right to attack or threaten to attack a police man".
The basic human right of self defense does not apply when an attacker is wearing a blue costume with a shiny badge? FYI: Not all cops are good.
Pepper spray would have
Pepper spray would have avoided this problem and probably would have been more effective against a dog than bullets. It also would have kept George Zimmerman out of trouble.
AGREED!! My first thought
AGREED!! My first thought was, wait, how do you put your hands up AND control a dog? Especially a dog that is perceiving a threat to its owner? Even if the dog rushed to the sidewalk, the owner couldn't control the animal with his hands up where the cop could see them... This was a no-win situation against a cop who was ready to shoot SOMEONE for SOMETHING.
If he shot the dog on the
If he shot the dog on the public sidewalk, he did right. All these dog owners who think that the public has to stand their dog's threats and potential attacks, that is very wrong.
Now if the dog attacked inside his own private parcel, that is a problem. Happens all the time. Police has the right to invade private homes under certain circumstances, and dogs do not understand that.
Maybe police should have a special non-lethal dog stopper in these cases? At least when they go in prepared, in strength, on a warrant.
But I think nobody should have to be required to take a risk to wait if the dog will bite or not.
Again, if he was inside the dog's legal territory, things get murky. If he walked in there by mistake, too sad. Now no human would have the right to attack or threaten to attack a police man. He also would be shot. Dogs should not have necessarily have more rights then humans.