Nightmares

Yesterday was a horrible day. Bad tempers and headaches all around I think. I'm happy for the new day, though seriously the nightmares couldn't have been worse. I find myself dreaming about the sick animals I wish I could help. It didn't help that right before I went to bed, there was a new story about a 5 month old pit bull puppy being shot by a Birmingham Police Officer. Alabama isn't far from me, maybe a few hours. The thought of it being closer to home, than say California.. It hit home. Authorities shot this puppy, because he had escaped from it's fence, and with the first shot, the puppy ran home. As it got home and back into it's gate, the officer's shot the dog 4 more times.. Witnesses even heard the cops joking and celebrating about who's shot was louder. This sickened me. Like, deep down to my bones. I was unaware that cops were so trigger happy with shooting these animals, when a taser or pepperspray would be a better alternative. Saying a puppy was charging at you,  but the gunshots being in the back of the puppy.. There is no way. But the Police Department will probably try to cover it up. Take the side of their officers and let that be that.


There have been many, many stories about this lately. All it takes is to look up "Cop shoots dog" and you see an unending response in return. People don't know about this very often, because the Police Department's cover up the story. One PD was accused of trying to pay someone off when they caught the cop's misdoings on camera. Thankfully the woman said no, and took her video to the media. The officer still was not fired, even for the proof that he had shot the dog for target practice, and it had nothing to do with him feeling threatened.


Someone asked a good question, and it's "what laws are there for animals against police officers?" Well the truth of it is, if they "feel threatened" they can shoot the animal. It doesn't matter if they WEREN'T aggressive, it just takes that momentary feeling. So then I was asked, "Well is it legal to say that if an officer shoots my dog, my life feels threatened because it was my family member? Am I allowed to shoot the officer?" That's something only a lawyer could answer, but it was a very good point. Companion animals these days, are largely part of the family. Once they are hurt, it is like hurting a toddler. If my dog was shot, I would feel threatened.




The hatred for pit bulls, drives most of the shootings. Officers are ten times more likely to shoot a pit bull, rather than try to figure out another way. Merely for being a pit bull. Such as this puppy. Each shot in the pit bull puppy was from a further away trajectory. Proof, that the puppy had been retreating for it's life. It pains me to think about these stories, and my fear of my pooch meeting a fate like that terrifies me. I'm just glad I'm aware of the steps in keeping my animals safe. At least as safe as I possibly can.


I'm linking an article on how to keep YOUR pet safe, and I really recommend reading it.
A Police Officer Shares Insight on How to Keep your Dogs Safe