Milwaukee police shoot, kill dozens of dogs each year

[Anti Federalist]

Just one city.


Milwaukee police shoot, kill dozens of dogs each year; training helping to reduce that number

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/261822391.html

MILWAUKEE — Jane Flint was at work when a friend called and warned her that Milwaukee police were about to search her home for endangered reptiles. She rushed home to keep her four boisterous dogs from interfering with police, but before she arrived, officers shot and killed two of the Tibetan mastiffs.

She's never been told her why.

Milwaukee police shoot and kill dozens of dogs each year, often saying the animals appeared to be a threat to officers or to the public. But in response to criticism and two lawsuits, police have been able to reduce that number with improved training, which began in 2012 and expands this fall. The sessions teach officers to recognize when dogs' actions are nonthreatening or when less-lethal defense might be more effective.

Michael Tobin, the executive director of the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission, said police are eager to improve how officers interact with dogs. Even one dog shooting generates so much outrage that it can take years to repair the damage to community relations, he said.

One of the lawsuits was filed by Flint, 54, who's suing the city of Milwaukee and several police officers. She said the 2010 shootings were unnecessary because her dogs were gentle and good-natured, even if their barks were loud.

"This didn't have to happen," she said tearfully.

Flint was charged with mistreatment of animals, but prosecutors eventually dropped the charges.

A police spokesman said he couldn't comment on the lawsuit because the litigation is pending.

Between 2000 and 2008, Milwaukee police shot and killed 434 dogs, or an average of 48 per year. That's according to a separate lawsuit filed by a woman whose dog was killed by officers in 2004 as they looked for an unrelated man who allegedly had a pit bull.

More at link...

[SeanTX]

Just one city.


Milwaukee police shoot, kill dozens of dogs each year; training helping to reduce that number

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/261822391.html

MILWAUKEE — Jane Flint was at work when a friend called and warned her that Milwaukee police were about to search her home for endangered reptiles. She rushed home to keep her four boisterous dogs from interfering with police, but before she arrived, officers shot and killed two of the Tibetan mastiffs.

She's never been told her why.



Because, FUCK YOU, that's why! And if they had it to do all over again, they'd do the same exact thing (as the sheriff whose goons killed Mayor Calvo's dogs said).

I'm sure for every dog shooting we hear about there are hundreds we don't. Maybe some tiny percentage are justified (like shooting a dog that has mauled people), but I'd wager that most are like this woman's story, where the police could have just simply backed off and taken some other approach, instead of pigheadedly going forward.

But why do that when you can just shoot with no consequences? And for the "so, it's just a dog?" types -- the same thing is happening more and more with people too, and the two things aren't mutually exclusive.

[Uriel999]

how many do they just burn with flashbangs? Or is that just reserved for infants?

[SeanTX]

how many do they just burn with flashbangs? Or is that just reserved for infants?

I've seen vids of US troops in the "war zone" throwing flash bangs at local livestock for fun.

I can imagine law enforcement at home engaging in such hijinks too (and for extra enjoyment the dog might decide to play fetch with it).

[jtap]

Need old yeller put down? You know who to call.

[JK/SEA]

Need old yeller put down? You know who to call.

they don't kill dogs for humanitarian reasons.....

[Henry Rogue]

*Even one dog shooting generates so much outrage that it can take years to repair the damage to community relations, he said.Reason for the training? Concerned about their own image. It is always about them and not you, don't forget it.

[jtap]

they don't kill dogs for humanitarian reasons.....

Well obviously you don't call them and make that purpose known, it's a "bonus" service they offer as a result of you making them drive out there. You will have to come up with some other reason to tell them.

[Occam's Banana]

Milwaukee police shoot, kill dozens of dogs each year; training helping to reduce that number

[...] Milwaukee police shoot and kill dozens of dogs each year, often saying the animals appeared to be a threat to officers or to the public. But in response to criticism and two lawsuits, police have been able to reduce that number with improved training, which began in 2012 and expands this fall. The sessions teach officers to recognize when dogs' actions are nonthreatening or when less-lethal defense might be more effective.

Michael Tobin, the executive director of the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission, said police are eager to improve how officers interact with dogs. Even one dog shooting generates so much outrage that it can take years to repair the damage to community relations, he said. [...]

You really want to improve training and public relations? Here's an idea: JUST STOP SHOOTING & KILLING DOGS, ASSHOLES!!
Mailmen, meter readers and pizza deliverers seem to be able to do their jobs just fine without having to shoot or kill anything.

Of course, police don't really give a damn about not shooting dogs - all this is just PR damage-control.
Shooting dogs is not about ensuring "officer safety" - it's about asserting dominance and control ...

[Mani]

So Milwaukee is a midsized city. Roughly 400K-500K population and the surrounding community is about 2 million. Milwaukee is about the 30th or 40th biggest city in the country (population wise), somewhere in that top 50. It's a good midsized city for comparison.


Now the 48 dogs killed per year are ONLY for the Milwaukee area, as each of the surrounding areas have their own PD.


Let's be conservative and say all the top 50 cities in USA have 48 dogs killed per year via cops. Not just shootings, but killed dogs. Even though that's way low, because the population of the top 10 cities is around 25+ million with those big cities having 1 million to 8 million each city. Which means there are a lot more cops and dogs in those cities.

That's 2400 dogs KILLED BY COPS PER YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And we know cops in smaller towns shoot dogs as well.

So let's take the 48 and use it across the top 100 cities in USA which the 100th city still has a population of 200K+

That's 4800 dead dogs PER YEAR!!!!!!! This is ONLY counting the top 100 cities, out of 20,000 cities across america. We are still talking about a sample of America.


we could easily surpass 5,000 dogs being killed EVERY SINGLE YEAR!!!!! SHOT BY COPS! EASY, that's probably a low low low number. In reality it's probably DOUBLE.

But even if it's not. Even if it's only 4800 dogs per year. That's 13+ dogs being MURDERED by cops every day, 365 days a year.



Oh wait...It's just a few bad apples. Or how about Dog Killing cops only exist in Milwaukee. Oh yes and my favorite: It was just cops defending themselves from some evil pitbulls. :rolleyes:

[mad cow]

Inside Edition had a segment tonight on cops shooting dogs.It is worth watching if you can find it on the net.
Many of the dog shootings covered in this thread are brought up,some with videos of the shooting and interviews with the dog owners.

One fact they mentioned that I didn't know is that in America on average,a dog is shot every 98 minutes by a cop.

A post of mine from an earlier thread.My calculator tells me that works out to ~ 5,363/year,so you were close.

[Mani]

A post of mine from an earlier thread.My calculator tells me that works out to ~ 5,363/year,so you were close.

That's amazing that my guesstimating came out fairly close to the real number.

IT also reinforces the number, since my estimates were not related to the number you discovered.


That's also scary that every day 13-15 dogs are being killed by cops..Every fucking day.