Loose dog shot in park

[Anonymous]

2 women were walking and their dogs were off leash-not under their control. The dogs were at least 20 yards away and jumping on or around other people. One person with a concealed carry permit shot a 10 month old puppy [reported by owner as a labrador mix]. Of course the WP emphasizes the word labrador and it's sketch to even assume lab. I have and have had labradors. I never would have had any of them off leash in that or any other park. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/she-was-my-constant-companion-no-charges-in-fatal-dog-shooting-on-virginia-park-trail/2016/10/27/4b5f504c-9c57-11e6-a0ed-ab0774c1eaa5_story.html?hpid=hp_local-news_labrador-8am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory#comments

[Anonymous]

The dogs were 20 yards away from their owners and jumping on people unknown to them. The dogs should not have been off leash regardless but it is extra egregious that the women clearly didn't have their dogs under voice control since they couldn't call them off. A 10 month old dog is almost full size at that point so the owner sees "puppy" and others see "adult dog". I feel awful for the dog but not the woman.

[Anonymous]

Then there's this.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/man-charged-with-animal-cruelty-for-shooting-a-deer-in-northwest-washington/2016/09/29/d9261d7a-8640-11e6-ac72-a29979381495_story.html?tid=a_inl

It's apparently open season in the greater DC area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Then there's this.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/man-charged-with-animal-cruelty-for-shooting-a-deer-in-northwest-washington/2016/09/29/d9261d7a-8640-11e6-ac72-a29979381495_story.html?tid=a_inl

It's apparently open season in the greater DC area.

This was a freaky incident. My DC was at soccer at the Palisades playground when the cops arrived en masse and shut the park down due to gunshots. People were in a tizzy. Who would have guessed it was a dude shooting a deer in the city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The dogs were 20 yards away from their owners and jumping on people unknown to them. The dogs should not have been off leash regardless but it is extra egregious that the women clearly didn't have their dogs under voice control since they couldn't call them off. A 10 month old dog is almost full size at that point so the owner sees "puppy" and others see "adult dog". I feel awful for the dog but not the woman.

People in this area have an irrational fear of black labs. I don't understand it, but since adopting a rescue black lab, we have discovered it.

Anyone with any knowledge at all of labs, or most large breed dogs, could look at a 10-month old almost-full-size puppy and see "puppy". This man was crazy. It's a bizarre cold thing to do, shoot a dog in front of the owner. I wonder how long his SO will stay with him after this.

[Anonymous]

This story just makes me ill. I'm so sad for the owner of the dog. While I don't think it is right to have a dog off-leash where it is illegal, and don't do it myself, this monster of a person with a gun completely overreacted. What a jackass.

[Anonymous]

He'd make a good cop. Well, not a "good" one. But he'd fit in well in most any American PD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This story just makes me ill. I'm so sad for the owner of the dog. While I don't think it is right to have a dog off-leash where it is illegal, and don't do it myself, this monster of a person with a gun completely overreacted. What a jackass.

I agree, you should never EVER have a dog off leash!

That being said, you shouldn't shoot a dog unless it is attacking someone.
Having a concealed weapon is a disaster of an idea.

-owner of black lab (I like that people are afraid of him. He's a complete wimp but people don't know this)

[Anonymous]

I feel bad for the dog. She died because her owner is an idiot. The owner should be fined. If you can't control your dog and let if jump on strangers, then you are too stupid to have a dog.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The dogs were 20 yards away from their owners and jumping on people unknown to them. The dogs should not have been off leash regardless but it is extra egregious that the women clearly didn't have their dogs under voice control since they couldn't call them off. A 10 month old dog is almost full size at that point so the owner sees "puppy" and others see "adult dog". I feel awful for the dog but not the woman.

People in this area have an irrational fear of black labs. I don't understand it, but since adopting a rescue black lab, we have discovered it.

Anyone with any knowledge at all of labs, or most large breed dogs, could look at a 10-month old almost-full-size puppy and see "puppy". This man was crazy. It's a bizarre cold thing to do, shoot a dog in front of the owner. I wonder how long his SO will stay with him after this.

Again, the dogs were at least 20 yards away from the owners, off leash, and not under voice command. The woman herself acknowledges the man asked "once, maybe twice" to call off the dogs (so I'm gonna go ahead and say he was asking her multiple times since she's trying to make herself look good and is going to underestimate) and she failed to do so or was unable to do so. The police agree that the dogs were behaving aggressively and the man was justified. I really don't believe this woman's account that her dog was a perfect angel, innocent of all wrong doing. So again, I feel bad for the dog but not the owner. Her behavior was atrocious and endangered her dog to the point that the dog is now dead.

I have two dogs of my own and live in a community where plenty of the people are afraid of dogs (it's a large immigrant population and many of them aren't coming from cultures where dogs are common pets). I can either a) acknowledge that plenty of people in my community are afraid of my dogs regardless of my dogs' behavior and make sure to give people a wide berth when walking my dogs or b) declare that their fear of my dogs is irrational, not give them space or a wide berth and endanger everybody by giving people a reason to react out of fear by forcing them to interact with my dogs when they don't want to. I choose A and I gotta say, it's working out pretty freakin well for everyone so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The dogs were 20 yards away from their owners and jumping on people unknown to them. The dogs should not have been off leash regardless but it is extra egregious that the women clearly didn't have their dogs under voice control since they couldn't call them off. A 10 month old dog is almost full size at that point so the owner sees "puppy" and others see "adult dog". I feel awful for the dog but not the woman.

+1. I feel bad for the dog, but not the owner. Next time maybe she'll have her dog on a leash.

[Anonymous]

The reason this incident made the paper is not because it is a normal event, that people often shoot threatening (or nonthreatening) offleash dogs in parks. The reason WaPo wrote about this is because it is unusual, bizarre, crazy. Normal people don't shoot threatening offleash pit bulls or GSDs in parks, and normal people don't shoot offleash playful lab puppies in parks, either.

The Pet Forum in DCUM is not very pro-pet, so I understand why posters are condemning the dog owner for having her dog off leash. But shooting the dog is a huge overreaction and is quite possibly actionable even if the dog owner is not pressing charges. Gun nuts should be upset about this because it makes gun owners look crazed and irresponsible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The reason this incident made the paper is not because it is a normal event, that people often shoot threatening (or nonthreatening) offleash dogs in parks. The reason WaPo wrote about this is because it is unusual, bizarre, crazy. Normal people don't shoot threatening offleash pit bulls or GSDs in parks, and normal people don't shoot offleash playful lab puppies in parks, either.

The Pet Forum in DCUM is not very pro-pet, so I understand why posters are condemning the dog owner for having her dog off leash. But shooting the dog is a huge overreaction and is quite possibly actionable even if the dog owner is not pressing charges. Gun nuts should be upset about this because it makes gun owners look crazed and irresponsible.

Do you have ANY idea how terrifying it is to be charged at by a silent, large, out of control dog whose owner is far away and clearly not in control of the dog? And have that dog jumping on and at you, still completely out of the control of the owner? Would I have shot the dog? No. But I can't condemn a person for being so terrified in that situation that they chose to shoot the dog to protect themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The dogs were 20 yards away from their owners and jumping on people unknown to them. The dogs should not have been off leash regardless but it is extra egregious that the women clearly didn't have their dogs under voice control since they couldn't call them off. A 10 month old dog is almost full size at that point so the owner sees "puppy" and others see "adult dog". I feel awful for the dog but not the woman.

People in this area have an irrational fear of black labs. I don't understand it, but since adopting a rescue black lab, we have discovered it.

Anyone with any knowledge at all of labs, or most large breed dogs, could look at a 10-month old almost-full-size puppy and see "puppy". This man was crazy. It's a bizarre cold thing to do, shoot a dog in front of the owner. I wonder how long his SO will stay with him after this.

This is 100% on the owner.

She was selfish and entitled.

Leash your dogs unless they are in a deisignated dog park or your own yard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason this incident made the paper is not because it is a normal event, that people often shoot threatening (or nonthreatening) offleash dogs in parks. The reason WaPo wrote about this is because it is unusual, bizarre, crazy. Normal people don't shoot threatening offleash pit bulls or GSDs in parks, and normal people don't shoot offleash playful lab puppies in parks, either.

The Pet Forum in DCUM is not very pro-pet, so I understand why posters are condemning the dog owner for having her dog off leash. But shooting the dog is a huge overreaction and is quite possibly actionable even if the dog owner is not pressing charges. Gun nuts should be upset about this because it makes gun owners look crazed and irresponsible.

Do you have ANY idea how terrifying it is to be charged at by a silent, large, out of control dog whose owner is far away and clearly not in control of the dog? And have that dog jumping on and at you, still completely out of the control of the owner? Would I have shot the dog? No. But I can't condemn a person for being so terrified in that situation that they chose to shoot the dog to protect themselves.

Exactly.

Especially with the owners being 20 yards away and the victim asking repeatedly for them to call back their dogs.