All sorts of reports coming in. Per NBC:
Officers were responding to a call to check on a man who appeared to be passed out on a sidewalk at 14th Street and 2nd Avenue Monday afternoon, police said. A dog near the man, who was possibly homeless, began attacking the officers.
That's when police opened fire on the dog, killing it.
Gothamist has more here ... including a statement by the NYPD ...
An NYPD spokesman confirmed that officers shot and killed a dog at the location at approximately 4:25 p.m. The spokesman could not comment on why officers opened fire.
An East Village resident who witnessed the shooting says that the four officers who responded to the scene in front of the KFC at first were "not aggressive" towards the man or the dog. "The dog was barking very loudly, as though it were protecting its turf," the witness said
And here's a report via the Observer... they interview Eddie Huang, the chef-owner of nearby Baohaus...
Everyone around was like: Put the dog out of its misery. The cops left this dog wiggling and flaying, blood coming out of its mouth. They shot it in front of a public bus.
You can see in the photo, the trail of blood. The dog traveled. People were really really vocal, harassing the cops to put the dog down, and they wouldn’t do it. The whole thing just seemed really, really unnecessary. I don’t know what the protocol is for this, I know they have to keep the peace, but it really seemed like an abuse of power, an unnecessary one, and not doing it the right way.
According to NY1, authorities said the dog "snapped at a pedestrian and an officer."
"He was protecting the owner, like what animals do. He doesn't know any better, he's a dog," said one witness. "They could have handled it differently, rather than shooting the dog. The dog was twitching and rolling around."
"I talked to the cop afterwards. He was very shaken up. He's a dog lover and it ruined his week if not his year," said another witness. "And he did what he had to do to protect himself."
DNAinfo reported that the dog belong to a 29-year-old man from Poland... and that he "epilepsy, and had frequent seizures."
UPDATED 10:11 p.m.
The early reports said that the police killed the dog. Not so. According to the Daily News: "Police said the dog survived and was being cared for at an East Harlem shelter. The unidentified homeless man and the shooting officer were taken to Bellevue Hospital for minor injuries."
And here's a photo from the News ...
The Post notes that the dog's name is Star.
40 comments:
D.I.S.G.U.S.T.I.N.G.
bad karma buildup there for the shooter...
Everyone's quick to condemn the police for their actions, especially anytime they use force. Among the accusers however, I see/hear not one alternative solution offered:
A man is passed out on the ground, possibly not breathing, and appears to require urgent care. A dog can't be reasoned with, to allow police officers or first-aid workers access to the man it's protecting; there's no time to call for an ASPCA officer or animal-control units. Even a well-trained animal-control officer will need some time to figure out the correct dosage of tranquilizer etc. and STILL might have to use a gun because tranquilizers take time to act, and dog bites aren't fun for anyone involved. Everyone is always looking for excuses to hate on the police department, but at least they ought to think a bit about why.
Agree with abrod.
Any excuse to criticize the police, but no answers on how to stop a dog from biting more pedestrians or officers. How many people have to be bitten before the police are allowed to shoot ?
It was an ugly scene, but waiting for Animal Control while the animal had already bitten one woman and snapped at an officer is not reasonable considering the circumstances.
dog bites arent fun? thats reason to shoot a dog and watch it convulse and scream slowly to death. man up . grow some balls. and get the training and courage we should demand from someone we rely on to protect and serve.
@abrod-I think you summed this up very succinctly. Ok, let the hate begin.
Saw the aftermath...live nearby. Chatted with some folks.
I heard that the woman who was "bitten" later said this was not true, she was not bitten, and that she tried to express this, but things were already in motion and too late. It's very sad.
Seems the primary person was passed out in a sort of Heroin nod, the dog was protecting / guarding its owner (understandable). I guess to help the guy, you have to some how make it past the dog, but this is very sad, regardless. Not sure what the "right" answer is. I can imagine being passed out in a fire from inhalation and my dog tweaking out in what it thinks is protective mode.
Just a bad situation all around.
No one blames the junkie tweaker?
it's ironic the dog died protecting a crusty punk.. on average crusty punks probably abandon/exchange amongst each other 2-3 of these dogs a year..
I don't really mind crusty dogs.. at least.. when they're mutts of other breeds without pits.. you know.. half australian shepherds..
pits should be banned west of aves D, C
i don't know the owners story and if it was just selfish heroin he's a shit-bag.
but i do know that the cop took the wrong move.
controlling a dog shouldn't end up with it whimpering a slow death.
he wanted to become a cop and maybe end up doing heroic things. but he decided to just pull out a gun and shoot a dog instead. its not a bear. its not an alligator. its a dog. A man should know how to take control of a dog without a gun. Especially a man in his line of business.
there's a dog fight at least once a week at Tompkin's square dog run. good thing cops don't butt-in there.
Shouldn't the police officer have used a taser or pepper spray, as they so often do on people?
Sounds to me like the police is only too happy to have an excuse to shoot the dog of a crusty punk.
A pitbull took a run straight at the cop, who had a split second to react. That is a fact. I am curious how the keyboard experts would have handeled it? Any suggestions?
I agree with Chris, I don't think they needed to kill the dog. Having said that there's three sides to every story and the bottom line to this one is that this is just sad.
Shouldn't the police officer have used a taser or pepper spray, as they so often do on people?
Street cops are not issued tasers. Only supervisors and ESU have tasers and according to news reports they did pepper spray the dog but he remained aggressive.
Some of the comments are based on the assumption that the pitbull was standing over the passed out crusty owner who was on the sidewalk. The cop was in the middle of 14th Street and the dog took a straight run at him. I guess the cop should have let the pitbull lock onto his leg and await animal control, or await directions from the expert second guessers.
another reason why we shouldnt have guns.
is it confirmed that the dog is still alive? that daily news blurb is the only report updating that the dog survived.
They did pepper spray the dog and he still kept coming at them. I am so sick of the anti-police rhetoric. The officer that shot the dog admitted to being a dog lover. As a dog lover myself...I imagine if I were in that same situation I would have wanted to protect myself and the people in the area and would have shot the dog. Maybe his heroin addicted owner is the one to blame in this situation.
Westville East - Why should pit bulls be banned? And only West of certain blocks?
I can introduce you to some lovely, sweetheart pit bulls.
To add to my previous account: The cop was backing up as the pitbull was running at him. Probably not the actions of someone out to shoot a dog for no reason. I wanted to add more facts to make some of the conclusions reached a shorter leap.
Grieve, did you have to open the post with the photo of the dead dog!??
You could have warned us with something like, "Warning, a graphic photo of the dead dog is coming up. Do not scroll down if you don't want to see it".
Or maybe have pictures of the dog AFTER a jump so no one would accidentally come across it when scrolling through the home page.
I'm so effing depressed to have seen that now. Christ almighty.
Have any of you been attacked and bitten by a large dog? Especially a pitbull? It is terrifying. There is no "man up and grow a pair". I have been on the receiving end of a pitbull attack and if I had a gun I would have fired every bullet I'm the thing. It can be as serious as life or death for the person being attacked.
That said, I am also a dog lover and it breaks my heart to know that this dog was shot. Poor thing was probably scared and doing what it thought was right for its owner.
Its a bad situation all around, but I don't think the cop deserves to be demonized
Is the dog going to sue the city ?
survived my ass... look at huang's photo. rigor mortis. the nypd will say anything to deflect from the truth.
No way I'm buying that this dog survived either.
Prove it NYPD — photo opp with media showing the dog in recovery.
Dogs can't be reasoned with, or wrestled without risking serious injury. If the guy's not breathing, he has under 2 minutes for the cops / first aid to reach him, so there's no time to wait for the proper equipment (padded suits, snares etc). Pepper spray was used, to no effect. And the dog began attacking people.
What do you want the officer being attacked to do? Hug the dog?
Lastly, I hate crusties and junkies. I really do. But the police still have a responsibility to help them out when they're in trouble, just like any other human being.
Like Caleo said - how many people need to be injured by this dog before you all can agree that the police had to do something about this?
Bottom line - read the story and not just the headlines before you type up your knee-jerk reactions. I learned long ago that things are never black and white, especially in this city.
The police are trained to protect citizens from harm. The deranged knife wielding man near Times Square last week is another more tragic example of protecting New Yorkers from harm. The police could not asses this passed out man's condition his life may have depended on immediate medical attention all which was impossible with a defensive which bit a few people apparently. The police had to remove the danger the dog posed to them and the general public. They did the right thing as sad and ugly as it was if a family member of mine were in that situation I would hope the police would act immediately to help them and not wait around for someone to remove the dog.
jesus f*cking christ these cops are out of control
i dont know why cops cant TASE instead of SHOOT. isn't that the whole point of that thing?
just tase the dog and tie it to a tree for the time being, jeez this is not rocketscience.
they wont give them tasers but they give them guns??? what kinda f*cked up logic is that??
maybe they should prove they can use tasers responsibly before they're allowed to carry a gun.
@ the recent two aninymous': I did not witness the incident but a friend of mine did and told me : The cops were initially taking no action other than telling people to back away. The dog which was a pitbull went after a women who got to close to the passed out owner. The cop was yelling at her to move back and the dog charged the cop at full speed. The cop was backing up and shot when the dog was inches from him. Patrol cops don't carry tazers. I would not want to be bit or mauled by a crustys pitbull which I am sure was diseased or sick because the crustys can't even take care of themselves .
I am so tired of these junkies using animals. The only one to feel bad for is the dog. He didn't deserve a crap life with this ass hole as a 'master'. He and the rest of the crusty's better get the karma they deserve for the way they treat animals.
What a horrible situation for everyone involved. I hope this guy is all right.
dogs are very misunderstood... a shame ...if it happened or ever does i wont be laying on the sidewaly...and hell will pay big time..........combat vietnam vet.......hope every one is ok sad
Hey Drew - how about the dog rips through your muscles because it bites and won't let go? Does THAT sound like fun? How about insane medical bills to take care of all that? How about physical therapy?
Owning an animal that you can't take care of and can't control is ABUSE, and abused domesticated animals that can't be controlled should be put down for their own well-being, as well as ours.
It's all the cyclists fault.
obviously they should give cops tasers and train them when it is appropriate to TASE instead of SHOOT.
He should of never shot the dog , could of kicked it or maneuver it to the ground , could of bribed him with some food when they immediately got to the scene , never should of shot the dog ..karma is a bit.. And that cop will pay forever with making the NYPD look bad and taking inappropriate actions. Mayb it all stems from lack of training to deal with animals in the academy ??
I don't think the cop was excessive. He had to make a split second decision without the benefit of hindsight, and his first duty is to protect people, and himself.
I had the displeasure of seeing a pit bull attacking a cat, and it took two police officers and the owner to get the dog off the cat. Once they are attacking, and it can be very difficult to stop it them.
Police often do respond to dog attacks involving the so-called aggressive breeds, that so many people want to see as just as cuddly as poodles. However, pit bulls, but are involved in more fatal or serious attacks than the cuddly breeds. This breed of dog is very strong and tenacious in its grip. Even under anesthesia, they can still hang on with their jaws, and that makes their bite unique. They are very strong and also have a high threshold for pain, so kicking it would not be effective in repelling it.
My sympathies to the officer involved, and I hope that the dog recovers, as I do really like animals.
Honestly in countries were police arnt that quick to shoit specialky as mist police arnt arned there is something called tranquilizer darts and theres a gun loaded with this in every patrol car as many a times be it a car accident a home dispute etc there maybe animals present and they are obviously agitated by the situation too yet they dont go around shooting them for fucks sake get these cowboys a tranquilizer gun what will be next? Puts the fear in all of us eplileptics whom have a service dog christ my dog is trained to do just that if i collapse if a stupid police guy shoots him i hope to god he gets shot in a gang fight or something quick with the gun then die by the gun arsehole
How's the human being who was not well on August 13th? We only care about the freaking dog?????
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