On November 7th, Rosie - a 2-yr-old Newfoundland - got out of her backyard. While she was microchipped, she was not wearing a collar. Someone saw her running loose and called authorities. They probably regret bothering with police.
When police arrived, everything they did was a message of "fear me" to Rosie. They chased her - she ran away. When they wouldn't leave her alone, she barked. That was the extent of her aggression. When they tried to snare her with a catch-pole, she escaped and ran again. When they tasered her, she probably yelped and ran away yet again. At no point did she charge at officers. At no point did she try to bite or attack officers. She ran away and barked.
Police cornered her in a backyard. Any reasonable person might suggest backing off and closing the gate. The dog is safely confined, she no longer poses the HORRIFIC threat of being barked at to death. Explain the situation to the home-owner. Give the dog some time, try to see if her behavior changes with time to calm. Net her, catch pole her if you have to. The world will not end if police give this dog a few minutes to calm down.
Instead, they shot her four times and killed her. Remember, the only two behaviors Rosie expressed were to run away and bark. (And as an aside, clearly the officers made Rosie A LOT bigger than she actually was by labeling her a 200 lb behemoth, even though she only weighed 120 lbs).
There will be a vigil tomorrow in her memory.
The Seattle Humane Society is condemning the shooting and encouraging Des Moines authorities to fully investigate it and also modify the way they handle loose, non-aggressive dogs.
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