PA - Dog Owner Speaks Out After Police Shoot and Kill Her Dog

[Anti Federalist]

Dog Owner Speaks Out After Police Shoot and Kill Her Dog

http://www.yourerie.com/news/news-article/d/story/dog-owner-speaks-out-after-police-shoot-and-kill-h/22969/CNy5LVFS_kCn4fdNIQTcyQ

March 4, 2014 – A city resident is speaking out after Erie Police shot and killed her dog.

But, Erie Police Chief Randy Bowers defends the officers given the situation.

Erie Police shot and killed a rottweiler Saturday morning after reportedly being called to the neighborhood for reports of the dog charging at people.

But, some neighbors say that wasn't the case.

Titan was a 3 1/2 old rottweiler owned by Athena Bonfa.

Bonfa says she's devastated after her dog was shot by police, that she's started a Facebook page and is questioning why police would shoot her dog that she says was like a big lap dog.

Chief Randy Bowers says when officers arrived on scene, the officers tried to make contact with the dog, but the dog charged at one officer.

Chief Bowers says that's when the officer shot the dog, firing four shots.

Animal enforcement wasn't called Saturday, but Chief Bowers says they're only called if the circumstance allows it.

Chief Bowers says the dog charged and there wasn't time to call.

Meanwhile, witnesses tell a different story, saying the dog wasn't aggressive Saturday when the shooting happened.

The city has an ordinance that says dogs must always be on a leash.

[Spikender]

Leash up your pet, or it's free game for the hunters.

Am I talking about dogs or people?

You decide.

[Schifference]

Too Late To Speak Out!!

[belian78]

This will not stop until it is hazardous for them to continue.

[pcosmar]

R.I.P Titan

https://scontent-a-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/t1/1959620_10200623827396877_641248042_n.jpg

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Titan-The-Bull-Bonfa/237593229761306

[DamianTV]

I had an aggressive pit bull charge me a couple days ago. Guess what. It didnt bite me. Guess what else. I didnt shoot it. Just walked into its space and put it back in it yard. I have a couple neighbors that are the idiots that get their dogs shot, and it got out because they dont give a shit about their dog. Im half suprised they arent cops.

[Cleaner44]

Black assault dogs should be banned.

Titan did this to himself.

[Schifference]

Mail carriers, UPS personnel and ordinary citizens cope with loose dogs without shooting them.

[pcosmar]

I had an aggressive pit bull charge me a couple days ago. Guess what. It didnt bite me. Guess what else. I didnt shoot it. Just walked into its space and put it back in it yard. .
Not an aggressive dog. Not aggressive at all. Seems it was just another nice friendly dog that happened to be a Pit Bull.

Titan was absolutely NOT an aggressive dog.

Had it actually been aggressive it would not have run when wounded.. It would have launched itself at it's attacker.
Had it been aggressive it would have hit that cop with all the force and animal ferocity it could muster before he had a chance to fire a second round.

Instead it ran to a place of shelter.. where he was pursued and executed.


Not an aggressive animal.


https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1/1939875_238133323040630_521804683_n.jpg
"He loved anyone's lap"

[ZENemy]

Ive seen Ceasar Milan MANHANDLE 3 pit bulls at the same time.

[pcosmar]

Ive seen Ceasar Milan MANHANDLE 3 pit bulls at the same time.

I have been mauled by 11 Rottweiler puppies at once. (supervised by their rather large and Attack Trained Mother)

it was a moment of great joy. :D

[EBounding]

Ive seen Ceasar Milan MANHANDLE 3 pit bulls at the same time.

Yeah it's weird. I've never seen him pull out a pistol in fear of his life. It's really surprising since he has no Heroic Police Training.

[ZENemy]

I have been mauled by 11 Rottweiler puppies at once. (supervised by their rather large and Attack Trained Mother)

it was a moment of great joy. :D

lol!! I volunteer for the next wave of attacks!

[ZENemy]

Yeah it's weird. I've never seen him pull out a pistol in fear of his life. It's really surprising since he has no Heroic Police Training.

Ceasar SEEMS (seems, still a TV star and could be fake for all I know) like a great guy, I wonder if we could petition him to do a "Cops: here is how not to murder dogs" episode. He still has a following on his youtube channel.

[pcosmar]

lol!! I volunteer for the next wave of attacks!

Rotts are really great dogs. I got my first from that litter.

And presently have a Rott mix.

https://scontent-a-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1/10003254_237714319749197_944667054_n.jpg

[Cleaner44]

Ive seen Ceasar Milan MANHANDLE 3 pit bulls at the same time.

Maybe we should harness the power of Cesar Millan to combat these dog killing cops.

Perhaps tweeting to him every story of cops killing dogs would get his attention...
https://twitter.com/cesarmillan

[ZENemy]

Rotts are really great dogs. I got my first from that litter.

And presently have a Rott mix.

https://scontent-a-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t1/10003254_237714319749197_944667054_n.jpg

Thats awesome!

I have a lot of love for Rotties, a bunch of friends I know had or have them. I have a Yorkie now (me and my girls) and if I was to get a big dog it would most likely be between a rottie and a Doberman! (Damn Tax collection dog!)

[EBounding]

Maybe we should harness the power of Cesar Millan to combat these dog killing cops.

Perhaps tweeting to him every story of cops killing dogs would get his attention...
https://twitter.com/cesarmillan

That's a great idea.

[SeanTX]

Mail carriers, UPS personnel and ordinary citizens cope with loose dogs without shooting them.

Yes, but those people are part of the mundane/civilian class, not the enforcer/praetorian class. We are all supposed to be "equal", but some are more equal than others.

While there might be rare instances where it's truly necessary to shoot a dangerous dog, I have no doubt that most of these police dog shootings are done out of pure arrogance, and to send a message to "civilians" -- to put them in "their place", and to make painfully clear to them their lesser status.

And the same thing is happening more and more to people too (that's for the "so what, it's just a dog!" crowd).

[LibertyEagle]

What damn justification did they give for chasing the dog and killing it after it ran from them after the first shot???? Clearly, IF they had been in any danger, they weren't anymore! The dog RAN from them!

People should be up in arms. This crap has got to stop. :mad:

[tod evans]

What damn justification did they give for chasing the dog and killing it after it ran from them after the first shot???? Clearly, IF they had been in any danger, they weren't anymore! The dog RAN from them!

People should be up in arms. This crap has got to stop. :mad:

This crap must be stopped.

"They" are not going to stop on their own.

Justice won't be found in their courts either.....

[ZENemy]

This crap must be stopped.

"They" are not going to stop on their own.

Justice won't be found in their courts either.....

"Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed. I do not ask that you place hands upon the tyrant to topple him over, but simply that you support him no longer; then you will behold him, like a great Colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, fall of his own weight and break in pieces."

[SeanTX]

What damn justification did they give for chasing the dog and killing it after it ran from them after the first shot???? Clearly, IF they had been in any danger, they weren't anymore! The dog RAN from them!

People should be up in arms. This crap has got to stop. :mad:

In the Mayor Calvo dog shooting one of his black labs ran away in terror down the street, and a SWAT team member chased it down to shoot and kill it.

Some people should remember that case, Mr. Calvo was the mayor in MD who was wrongfully targeted by a SWAT team, because some drug dealers were running a scheme where they would have drugs delivered to a random address so they could come in and pick it up. Unfortunately for him they picked his address, got him SWATTED, and he ended up handcuffed and laying in the blood of the other black lab they killed.

And, as will happen in this case, nothing happened. The sheriff said that if he had it all to do over again, he would have done the same thing. Mayor Calvo filed a civil suit, but it was tossed out by a judge who was related to someone on the LE side of all of this.

If there's ever justice in one of these cases, it won't be obtained through the JustUs system.

[pcosmar]

What damn justification did they give for chasing the dog and killing it after it ran from them after the first shot???? Clearly, IF they had been in any danger, they weren't anymore! The dog RAN from them!

People should be up in arms. This crap has got to stop. :mad:

No, it won't stop. Dogs are practice. Conditioning.

They are shooting people and it does not stop. Unarmed people. People with toys. People with remotes. People that are already restrained by other cops.
It doesn't stop.

[EBounding]

What damn justification did they give for chasing the dog and killing it after it ran from them after the first shot???? Clearly, IF they had been in any danger, they weren't anymore! The dog RAN from them!

People should be up in arms. This crap has got to stop. :mad:


Because the dog might be running off to threaten the life of another Brave Hero.

I'm pretty sure this is what they're actually thinking.

[Anti Federalist]

What damn justification did they give for chasing the dog and killing it after it ran from them after the first shot???? Clearly, IF they had been in any danger, they weren't anymore! The dog RAN from them!

People should be up in arms. This crap has got to stop. :mad:

None, of course.

No more justification is needed.

"Fuck you, we shot your dog, now, move along, or you'll get the same!" - Officer Friendly.

The means to put this to an end are at our disposal, nobody has what it takes to use them.

SWLODs are not going to stop this.

[Quark]

Here in Pittsburgh, a police dog was knifed and killed by a criminal. For weeks it was on the news, they had a huge funeral for the dog with cops blocking roads, holding up traffic, and not, you know - working (I don't know if that is a good or bad thing.) Anyway, the police were horrified by the event, you can tell what was going through their minds from their comments "how dare these civilians kill OUR dogs", was the sentiment. Nevertheless, it seemed very ironic. Dozens of dogs are killed weekly by police, but when one police dog is killed by a criminal (which will happen considering the nature of its job) the city goes crazy and impedes daily function.

For those interested:
http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/01/30/Pittsburgh-police-dog-Rocco-shows-improvement-after-stabbing/stories/201401300243

[pcosmar]

The means to put this to an end are at our disposal, nobody has what it takes to use them.


Shit man,, we can not even talk about what NEEDS to be done.
Any attempt to organize to do so would be infiltrated and prosecuted.

I warned a while back that you would see Tanks in the streets. And they are here.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/11/24/spoils-war-sheriffs-police-nationwide-getting-armored-vehicles-left-over-from/
http://blog.heritage.org/2014/02/10/tank-every-corner-police-departments-acquiring-armored-vehicles/


Mark my words.
Summary Executions in the street will be the next phase. You will see those increase.
They have no restraints. :mad:

[KCIndy]

What damn justification did they give for chasing the dog and killing it after it ran from them after the first shot???? Clearly, IF they had been in any danger, they weren't anymore! The dog RAN from them!



The cops were obviously afraid the dog was running home to grab an assault rifle.

I'm only half joking - it makes just as much sense as all the rest of the nonsense BS reasons the cops keep citing when they shoot a family pet.

[KCIndy]

The means to put this to an end are at our disposal, nobody has what it takes to use them.



I believe there are a few who do. But not enough. Not anywhere close.

[ZENemy]

Here in Pittsburgh, a police dog was knifed and killed by a criminal. For weeks it was on the news, they had a huge funeral for the dog with cops blocking roads, holding up traffic, and not, you know - working (I don't know if that is a good or bad thing.) Anyway, the police were horrified by the event, you can tell what was going through their minds from their comments "how dare these civilians kill OUR dogs", was the sentiment. Nevertheless, it seemed very ironic. Dozens of dogs are killed weekly by police, but when one police dog is killed by a criminal (which will happen considering the nature of its job) the city goes crazy and impedes daily function.

For those interested:
http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/01/30/Pittsburgh-police-dog-Rocco-shows-improvement-after-stabbing/stories/201401300243


I just threw up...in my mouth a little

[Anti Federalist]

Mark my words.
Summary Executions in the street will be the next phase. You will see those increase.
They have no restraints. :mad:

That is already happening far too often.

[Mini-Me]

The clever part is always leaving the mundane with something else to lose.

[Anti Federalist]

The clever part is always leaving the mundane with something else to lose.

Fed.

Entertained.

Exercise some petty power over their fellow man.

[DamianTV]

Not an aggressive dog. Not aggressive at all. Seems it was just another nice friendly dog that happened to be a Pit Bull.

Titan was absolutely NOT an aggressive dog.

Had it actually been aggressive it would not have run when wounded.. It would have launched itself at it's attacker.
Had it been aggressive it would have hit that cop with all the force and animal ferocity it could muster before he had a chance to fire a second round.

Instead it ran to a place of shelter.. where he was pursued and executed.


Not an aggressive animal.


https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/t1/1939875_238133323040630_521804683_n.jpg
"He loved anyone's lap"

The one I have (ongoing issue) a problem with is just being protective of its family. Could that type of behavior be any different for any of these other "dangerous" dogs?

I know how to handle aggressive dogs. An inexperienced person that tried the same thing likely would have been bitten with the one I encountered. However, just a bit of knowedge on how to convey body language is all it took. Dont break eye contact. If it approaches, charge back but do not engage. Dont run, ESPECIALLY if it does bite, it is only encouragement for it to bite even more. Moving away slowly while not breaking eye contact will keep them at bay usually.

The main issue here is that if cops dont know how to handle an aggressive dog, they most certainly arent going to know how to address an actual aggressive person. Shoot first, but dont bother to ask questions, just shoot some more later. If anyone protests, either shoot them too, arrest them, or lie about it.

[Mini-Me]

Fed.

Entertained.

Exercise some petty power over their fellow man.

Or in the case of people like yourself who are royally pissed...surviving pets and family members.

[TomtheTinker]

Save a dog shoot a ____?

[chudrockz]

I have been mauled by 11 Rottweiler puppies at once. (supervised by their rather large and Attack Trained Mother)

it was a moment of great joy. :D

The guy who owns the local meat market has two ENORMOUS rottweilers that our pit loves to play with at the dog park. They are the sweetest dogs imaginable. If you are sitting at the picnic table and don't watch out, one will climb on top of it from the other side, lay down and rest his head on your shoulder, without warning sending a vicious dribble of slobber down your jacket!

[DamianTV]

Fed.

Entertained.

Exercise some petty power over their fellow man.

Neither Aggressive Cops nor Aggressive Dogs have been properly socialized.

Now examine how both can be socialized. Take your new puppy and have it meet everyone in your neighborhood. Introduce it to other friendly dogs. Introduce the new puppy to other children. Introduce it to everyone and continue this training well into adulthood. When they meet new people or new dogs, they will be much friendlier to them.

Continue the thought experiment by trying to create an Aggressive Dog. Keep it isolated. Make sure that any interaction it has with anyone other than yourself is percieved by the dog as "Negative". Let it get attcked by other dogs in the neighborhood. Encourage children to kick and abuse the dog. When it gets out of your yard, its going to bite the first person it sees as a threat.

Replace Dog with Cop. Start with the Positive Experience. Take a Cop and put them on "the Beat" so they can meet everyone in person in the area they are going to patrol. They learn who's who from non confrontational interaction. Hi, Im going to be your new beat cop. The new Cop will meet everyone and learn who is going to be friendly to them, who is going to treat them like a Cop and who is going to treat them like a Neighbor wearing a Cop's uniform. When this is the first thing a Cop does, they learn a lot about people that has absolutely nothing to do with being a Cop or Criminal. They learn people are just that, people. They meet the local friendly neighborhood dogs. They learn which dogs are friendly and which ones arent. They learn how to interact with both types of dogs, and people. They learn which dog belongs to whom and the easiest way to interact with everyone that causes the least conflict with anyone.

Take the same Cop and change the enviornment to be a very Negative one. Put them in Jail for the first five years of their career. They learn that EVERYONE that is NOT a Cop is a dishonest Criminal. They learn that in order to control the convicts, they must continuously administer appropriately portioned levels of abuse. They learn from the criminals to expect nothing but the absolute worst out of people. Then, give them a car and send them out into the community. They will see every single person that doest have a badge as a criminal, and the best way to handle a victim of a crime is to abuse both the victim and the accused. They'll also learn the best way to handle a dog is to just shoot it.

Take the Negative experience a step farther by putting a gun in an Unsocialized persons hands and put them in a country where they dont speak the same language. Survival instict kicks in and everyone and everything that doesnt register the "same" is considered a threat.

I think one of the things we kind of fail to do here is figure out ways to Solve problems, not just indentify them or start our own.

[Mini-Me]

Shit man,, we can not even talk about what NEEDS to be done.
Any attempt to organize to do so would be infiltrated and prosecuted.

Any one of us could potentially be an agent. There is almost guaranteed to be at least one agent provocateur on these boards looking to provoke illegal actions, and when you know it's not you, you have to assume it could be any of the rest of us, especially the angry ones. Think about all of the posters who fit the following characteristics:
Well-liked and deeply placed in the community
No apparent day job, or a large number of posts implying exactly that
Angry and agitated posts subtly condoning vigilante acts, mob justice, etc. In most cases it's from emotional frustration and a sense of powerlessness and hopelessness that nothing else seems to be working...but it could also be an agent provocateur testing the waters and laying the groundwork for future specific entrapment of "friends."
For all you know it could be me, and for all you know I could switch between two or three accounts and proxy servers so it doesn't seem like I'm paid by the FBI/DHS/etc. to be here 40+ hours a week posting and building friendships. These friendships would be continued through private messages, other channels, and eventually in real life, until finally convincing you to plan or do something illegal...just like the female cop who got a younger high schooler to fall in love with her so she could bust him for buying her pot. I'm not doing this, but you don't know that.

If there was ever a need to organize for kind of last-resort resistance you're referring to, there would be no way to trust anyone or effectively organize unless a large enough portion of the population was already sympathetic enough to make it unstoppable. Similarly, if anyone ever got fed up and snapped on their lonesome (like the guy who ran a bulldozer or something into an IRS office I think?), it would backfire in the court of public opinion unless a large enough portion of the population was already sympathetic enough to make it unstoppable. It's always tough to tell whether the powder keg is full or empty: On the one hand there are a whole lot of bootlickers, but we can't forget what happened when cops were beating a guy on a soccer field, one brave soul rushed to intervene, and then the spell of the bystander effect totally broke for a brief moment as others followed.

If we ever actually got to that point overall, we'd likely also have the numbers to make enough noise to get things done peacefully and above-board as well...but then I suppose it would require a heck of a lot of dedication and focus from a heck of a lot of people willing to neglect everything else in their lives. I'm not sure if that's reasonable to expect or not. No matter what though, the crux of the solution rests upon public opinion. Unless and until someone defends themselves and sets off a chain reaction (instead of accelerating police state laws to the tune of cheers), the most effective way to change public opinion is probably to peacefully organize into very loud citizens' groups shouting at the top of their lungs with an overwhelming enough number of stories and statistics to break through the "isolated incident" mentality. The way I see it, our biggest weakness right now is that we read each story, fume about it, and forget too many details to drop comprehensive truth bombs on everyone who needs to hear them. The attempt to build a database of people killed by cops is very encouraging on this front (since there are no official statistics which track it). There are so many horrific incidents not involving human deaths that the database probably needs to become a more ambitious effort as well...

[SeanTX]

Apparently it's not so okay for a cop to kill his gf's dog -- he's been suspended without pay. He probably will be reinstated with back pay after it all blows over.

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2014/03/05/baltimore-city-police-officer-charged-after-beating-and-killing-7-month-old-puppy/


Baltimore City Police Officer Charged With Beating And Killing Girlfriend’s 7-Month-Old Puppy
March 5, 2014 2:43 PM


SILVER SPRING, Md. (WJZ) — A Baltimore City police officer is arrested on charges of animal cruelty.

Authorities say Officer Alec Eugene Taylor beat and killed a 7-month-old Jack Russell Terrier.

Taylor reportedly text messaged his girlfriend, saying he killed the dog because it defecated on the carpet. He then sent her a photo of what appeared to be a lifeless dog.

In a phone call, Taylor reportedly told his girlfriend he was tired of cleaning up after the dog and that he beat the animal with a mop.

He later told investigators he used the mop to force the dog out from behind the dryer and then choked it to death with his hands.

Police say Taylor disposed of the dog in a dumpster in the parking lot. His girlfriend later asked him to retrieve the body so she could bury it.

Taylor is charged with aggravated animal cruelty and abuse or neglect of an animal.

snip

Taylor is a five-year veteran of the Baltimore Police Department and will be suspended without pay.

[bubbleboy]

double post

[Mini-Me]

Apparently it's not so okay for a cop to kill his gf's dog -- he's been suspended without pay. He probably will be reinstated with back pay after it all blows over.

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2014/03/05/baltimore-city-police-officer-charged-after-beating-and-killing-7-month-old-puppy/

The dog was pooping in an aggressive and threatening manner, so the Baltimore Police Department will reinstate this misunderstood peace officer in no time if he's acquitted.

[bubbleboy]

Where I live its against the city to tether your dog period. Sooooo why dont we tether the pigs. They run wild in my neighborhood. I dont eat pork.

[DamianTV]

Where I live its against the city to tether your dog period. Sooooo why dont we tether the pigs. They run wild in my neighborhood. I dont eat pork.

Please Move The Deer Crossing Sign


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFCrJleggrI&feature=player_detailpage

[pcosmar]

The main issue here is that if cops dont know how to handle an aggressive dog, they most certainly arent going to know how to address an actual aggressive person.
They don't (in all these cases) know how to handle a friendly dog.
And in several cases they don't even try to handle people. They shoot them.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/01/07/3126391/north-carolina-police-shoot-schizophrenic-teen/#
http://hotair.com/archives/2014/01/07/we-dont-have-time-for-this-cop-allegedly-kills-north-carolina-teen-who-was-already-tased-and-restrained/

(links from both sides of the spectrum)

[pcosmar]

I think one of the things we kind of fail to do here is figure out ways to Solve problems, not just indentify them or start our own.
The only way to solve this problem is to remove the very concept of police from our society.

Police by definition are an authoritarian control construct.
There is no place for control enforcers in a free society.
The people themselves will enforce laws that the people themselves will enforce.

The only remaining question is whether we choose a Free Society or an Authoritarian Society.

[Pericles]

Apparently it's not so okay for a cop to kill his gf's dog -- he's been suspended without pay. He probably will be reinstated with back pay after it all blows over.

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2014/03/05/baltimore-city-police-officer-charged-after-beating-and-killing-7-month-old-puppy/

no combat quals for him.

[Mani]

On the Fedbook page: Titan the Bull Bonfa. The family talks about the death of their beloved pet, Titan.

I've been following the page, and I'm noticing a trend. A revelation that cops are not your friends...Cops are not there to protect and serve. Cops kill pets, and beat and kill people.


Other links are popping up, today I saw Kelly Thomas's name mentioned.

Recently someone linked to an 8 minute video, very well done, about police brutality. It's a bunch of separate clips of recent police beatings, making Rodney King look like a slap on the wrist. We've seen some of the videos on here, but these are are put together in one stretch. It has some decent voice overs with the Judge and a couple other people talking about police getting out of control.

There's one video of a black man on the ground and a cop has him subdued, and a big black cop with a baton is whacking his leg repeatedly. The cop actually seems to get tired...and then continues on the beating of the mundane's leg...then gets tired again...then starts beating his leg again. While the mundane is on the ground howling over his injuries...and not seemingly like a threat or resisting at all.


Now that video has 20 comments of people angry or shocked, and others sharing it.


I'm sorry for this family's loss, but at least if there is a positive (which there's not much positive from having your dog murdered), it is this woman has realized the Cops are not your friends, she's woken up, and she's spreading the message, and now people who are simple dog lovers are starting to see evidence that this is NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT. THIS IS NOT a one time mistake, but it's happening all over, and it's not just dogs, police are killing and beating people as well.

I hope this page continues to grow and people get informed. Sometimes us screaming at the top of our lungs doesn't do much good, but when an innocent family experiences such brutality, it awakens them and awakens those around them, and their message is actually heard.