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3. Dog Shot By Memphis Officer—ASPCA Speaks Out!

In a tragic example of what happens when proper police protocol is not followed, two pet Labrador Retrievers were shot at last Thursday by officers from the Memphis Police Department when the canines used their dog door to see who had come into their yard. The officers entered the private property to investigate a possible burglary because the homeowner’s alarm system had been triggered. Although one dog was shot and the other ran away, the dogs’ owner, who was not home at the time, was not informed by the authorities that anything unusual had taken place, leaving her to discover quite a frightening scene when she returned home hours later.

“Police shootings of family dogs are a huge problem nationwide,” says Dr. Randall Lockwood, ASPCA Senior Vice President of Anti-Cruelty Field Services. “In general, in at least one-third to one-half of all incidents where a police officer fires a gun, the target is a dog. In almost all cases, just a sharp verbal command or a confident display of authority is enough to deter a dog attack. The easiest way for police officers to do this would be to raise their batons in a threatening way. Failing that, pepper spray may be used. Shooting is very rarely justifiable.”

The Memphis Police Department has received regular training in animal handling and dog confrontations over the last decade, but that does not seem to have stemmed the rate of anti-protocol dog shootings by its officers, which is significantly higher in Memphis, per capita, than in major cities like New York and Los Angeles. “It’s ironic—Memphis is ahead of most other police departments in the nation in that they have official use-of-force policies for encounters with animals—but the real-world effectiveness of these policies depend much on internal support and enforcement and holding people accountable,” adds Dr. Lockwood.

Last week’s shooting of the two Labs comes just one week after a similar incident in which a Boxer mix was also shot in his home by a Memphis policeman. The Memphis Police Department is investigating both incidents, and all three dogs are now back home with their families, recovering from their ordeals.

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