How to keep your dog from being shot by police
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Keeping your dog safe from law enforcement may sound like a contradictory statement, but recently there have been several tragic stories which involve family dogs being shot by police officers.
In an effort to collect information which might help prevent future tragedies, I reached out to a woman who has been in law enforcement for the past fourteen years. Her name is Cheryl Goede and she not only has firsthand insight as a police officer, but she is also an experienced dog owner.
Cheryl collaborated with her husband, Kevin, who has 20 years of law enforcement background in addition to being a dog trainer, and Cindy Earnshaw, a journalist and former LEO/Animal Control officer.
Together, this threesome came up with a plethora of knowledge to share with all dog owners. The following information was written by Cheryl and should be shared with all dog owners.
Before sharing Cheryl’s information, I would like to add my own two cents.
Always err on the side of caution with your dogs. Assume the worst. Assume that the officers you encounter may be fearful of dogs. Assume that your otherwise friendly dog may react badly to uniformed strangers. Assume that law enforcement may choose to use deadly force if they feel threatened in any way.
These assumptions, which may seem overly “negative”, just might help protect your dog from a fate like Cisco’s, or the senior Golden Retriever, Boomer.
Now, for Cheryl Goede’s words of wisdom.
If people know that the police are coming, then every effort should be made to make sure that the dogs are restrained in such a manner that they won’t be able to escape. Even if you think that nothing will happen and that your dog is friendly and will not charge the officer, bark at them, etc., always expect the unexpected. Things can happen and circumstances can change in the blink of an eye. So always always restrain your dogs.
Do not EVER allow your dogs to roam your neighborhood. If your dog is unrestrained and the police come to your home unexpectedly and the officer asks you to restrain your dog, do so immediately.USE YOUR VOICE to alert the officer to your dog’s NAME and loudly announce “Let me put up my dog, I am putting up my dog!” If the officer is not comfortable with the method of you restraining your dog (a dog on a retractable leash or the dog is jumping up on the fence after being placed in the backyard) and there is a chance that it is making the officer uncomfortable, immediately offer to restrain your dog further.When you see officers in the vicinity of your home and your dog is outside, ESPECIALLY if they appear to be searching for someone/something, bring your dog inside. If it looks as though police are actively going into yards to search, don’t think “I’ll help the police out” and let your dog OUT, keep them in until police presence is gone. It is also a good idea put signs on your fence to indicate that there are dogs at the house and possibly in the backyard, so that officers are not taken by surprise if they are searching for someone and jump the fence to find there are dogs there. If both the officer and the dog are taken by surprise, that would put them in all in a position of defense….not good.Do what you can to discourage your dog’s excitement towards any officer or other official who is in your presence. Never tempt fate by encouraging your dog’s excitement towards the officer. Dogs react differently to people in uniform, and they can and may behave in an unexpected manner.
It is imperative to remember that the legal default presumption is always that the dog owners are ultimately wholly responsible for the welfare and control of their canines.
If an officer does what was allegedly reported by the owner of Cisco, file a lawsuit against the officer, the police department, and the municipality. Under certain circumstances and under local law, it may be appropriate to file charges of animal cruelty/abuse against the officer. I don’t think there was really anything his owner could have said or done in order to prevent the shooting, other than what he already did, due to the fact that the officer was pointing a gun at him and basically telling him not to move.
Kevin is hoping to create a course to help educate law enforcement officials about better communication with pet owners. He also hopes to teach law enforcement about how to read a dog’s body language. If you are interested in learning more about Kevin’s dog training and would like to weigh in on ideas for an educational course for law enforcement, please click here.
Please take a moment to share this valuable information with anyone who owns a dog. It could prevent a tragedy. Many thanks to Cheryl and Kevin Goede and Cindy Earnshaw for taking the time to put this important information together for Examiner.com.
Hat tip to my friend Peggy.
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At the risk of getting lashing from Mike I will say that I hope they are able to get through to the police that they are supposedly the ones with higher brain activity when approaching someone’s home and there is a dog in the yard. Rascal never leaves my yard and by the same token he expects no one to come in to my yard without permission. When I know someone is coming over that he doesn’t know I always bring him inside to avoid confrontation. Then I properly introduce him to the person. Some police officers fail to take into account that their presence causes tension for the owner which is picked up by the dog. Additionally, most officers give off an aggressive signal which challenges any dog on their own territory. What you end up with are two entities with heightened sense confronting each other. One of them has to take the lead and think things through before causing a physical altercation when there is no immediate emergency.
Bill, I hear you loud and clear. The fact I have always rescued “dangerous” animals…pits and now a three legged wolf I have worried intensely that even if the animal is safely in my fenced yard they will be seen as a threat!
My beasts would lick them to death, like they try to do with out mailman or anyone who comes to the house. Hubby has a friend of his in law enforcement, that comes by periodically still in uniform, and my two look at him, roll on their backs and want belly rubs. Hubby keeps saying we should train them to be guard dogs, by what says I, letting them slobber on people to get rid of them. I have a min pin and some kind of Collie/ mutt mix we just rescued recently. Sound like trainable guard dogs to you, yeah, me either.
BoB and all my pits sure support this. It has always been a great fear of mine particularly since many of my pits were originally guard dogs at unsavory places where police were seen as the enemy. I vowed years ago to crawl to the curb with all my dogs locked inside the house if I needed to call 911! 🙂