It is no surprise that police have favoured the panicked officer who shot a pit bull while responding to a call back in January. Police have determined the shooting was justified.
Few believe that the dog was “attacking” the police officer – the officer panicked when he saw the dog and reacted badly. If a police officer can not handle a situation he should not be on the streets.
It is not appropriate for the police force to be investigating police abuse reports such as this – there should be an independent investigations unit to keep it fair. Of course, police will not decide against an officer for shooting a dog in a country where animal rights mean so little.
The Freeport News reports:
Grace Megan, the grey and white pit bull mix, suffered a fractured skull from a through and through bullet on January 8 and died two days later.
She and another dog had somehow gotten out of their fenced yard and had encountered the police in the Imperial Park area a few houses down from where they lived.
One of the two responding officers shot Grace Megan, the two year old, in the head after he was reportedly attacked. The five-year-old dog got away
News of the shooting incident and the fact that police refused to allow the pit bull to be removed from the scene and receive emergency care had outraged animal lovers.
HSGB Managing Director Elizabeth Burrows was first on the scene and met the injured dog was on the ground and bleeding from her face and her rear flank.
After realizing the dog was still breathing, Burrows said she requested permission from the officers to remove the dog but was denied.
Burrows said two other HSGB staff arrived and, when the dog began seizing, she informed the officers that they were removing the dog and she left.
Assistant Commissioner Emrick Seymour revealed that the investigation showed that the officers’ refusal was a bad judgment call.
Burrows said while she was unable to speak to the shooting as she arrived afterwards, her position on the incident still stands.
“I feel that the whole situation could have been avoided,” she said.
Burrows also expressed to Seymour their willingness to assist the police cadets or current officers with proper animal handling skills or knowledge in the future and said the assistant commissioner indicated a willingness to pursue that avenue.
