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Loading...NYPD Shoots Dog While Her Owner Has a Seizure
New York City police shot a dog in the head on Tuesday, reports Gothamist. The pit bull named Star was believed to be protecting her owner as he had a seizure on the sidewalk. When officers came to address the emergency situation, Star ran at them for getting too close to her ailing companion, and they responded by firing a pair of bullets at her.
The gruesome scene attracted a sizeable crowd. Some bystanders cried, while others shouted at the officers for mishandling the situation. More officers arrived on the scene to control the crowd. All the while, Star bled on the street, flopping in pain, while her owner, known to friends as Pollock, lay unconscious on the ground, similarly unattended.
A witness uploaded a video to Youtube that shows how the scene unfolds. Please be aware that the clip is both upsetting and graphic. The video contains footage of Star being shot and writhing in pain.
From the video, it is clear that Star did lunge toward an officer at the time she was shot. Some on the scene thought the gun force, though sad, was appropriate. Witness Johnny Rodriguez said, “It’s a tragedy, but I may have done the same thing that the cop did. If you got a pit bull coming at you, I don’t know if you stand there and get bit or use your gun.”
Obviously, it is a shame to see a dog suffer for being loyal to her companion. Star viewed the officers who were there to help as a threat. However, at least a couple of witnesses told the Daily News that Star’s aggressiveness may have been provoked by how the officers approached Pollock. “Instead of calling the ambulance, they started kicking him,” said Aida Feliciano. “If you kick the dog’s owner, the dog is obviously going to attack,” said Alan Crosby, who also saw the incident.
Furthermore, if the officers’ intention was to remove Star from the situation in order to provide Polluck with medical attention, that does not explain why – as the video shows – he is left on the ground without treatment long after Star was too injured to interfere with any necessary care.
According to friends, Pollock is an elliptic who has seizures semi-regularly. An employee at the adjacent KFC restaurant said Pollock and Star frequented the area, calling them “friendly and harmless.”
Though initial reports suggested that Star had died, the latest news is that she is in serious condition. The medical summary also shows that Star was maced at some point, although it is unclear whether police used the substance on the pit bull before or after shooting her.
Related Stories:
Pit Bull Awarded for Saving Owner Twice
Read more: animals, loyalty, NYPD, pit bull, pit bulls, police, seizure, shooting
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+ add your ownDisgusting. These men should be relieved of their guns. Not the sort of behaviour one would expect from properly trained police officers.
These cops have way too much power in their hands. So sad for the dog.
Trigger happy, animal hating, people hating, cops, should be fired and arrested, prosecuted and sentenced to a long time spent in prison.
"elliptic". I was so convinced it was spelled "epileptic"! I must be wrong.
DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT CAME OF THIS DOG?
DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT CAME OF THIS DOG?
I hope Starr recovers. It appears from the story that the dog was protecting her owner and attacking the police as a perceived threat to her owner. As the dog of a person with epilepsy, Starr has seen her owner like this before -- is she trained to help him? It appears that the police felt they had to stop this dog running to them, but I wish they had another non-lethal method to subdue animals. The LARGE question is why the epileptic did not receive immediate care, once Starr was not a threat to the police. Usually that involves protecting the person from inadvertently hurting themselves (and of course, calling an ambulance).
Where the hell are they getting these people we are calling "police" If I woke up from that seizure and saw my dog and that video,... Man. Seriously. If you are going to do the job of the police you cant be a scared trigger happy idiot. Who is that man? What a SH**
The police seems to only handle difficult situations with tasers, pepper sprays and shooting. If you are such a sissy or stupid to find those options the easier and best solutions, you need to find another job!
For comparison, this other police officer fends off a much larger attacking dog without a gun, but he does kick it once and then use a taser, so still not a pleasant video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGUyMFPJRnU
At least he doesn't automatically use a gun though, and in this case he did nothing to provoke the dog, it just ran up and attacked him.
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