[RP TownTalk] Citizen Complaint of Riverdale Police Animal Abuse

[Cranky old Coot]

Anne,
I to am a dog lover. I get mine from the pond. Sorry you had a bad day, but:

You seemed to have lots of questions based on a limited amount of 
secondhand information.  Let me add to your questions.

The police were actively looking for the dog and you felt obliged to try 
to interject your self into the situation. You without information guess 
that the dog was "just play nipping" = UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR FOR ANY 
DOG. = The police were called, apparently someone didn't think it was 
"play." With the information you had the dog could just a easily malled 
a child on the way home from school, scaring them physically and 
mentally for life.  By getting in your car you may have avoided long 
treatment for rabies. With no firsthand information what makes your 
judgment about proper action better than the police working with 
knowledge of the situation? Do you know whether Prince George's County 
Animal Control was contacted or not? Do you know whether they were 
available at that time? Do you know whether or not our police have the 
proper equipment/training to have SAFELY cough the dog? I am no more 
able evaluate whether the the officers acted ethically, with minimum 
required force that you are. You don't know what the situation was, nor 
do I. Based on the information you have provided I think your question 
is inflammatory. You feel that the incident "reeks"  of  abuse, cruelty 
and excessive violence. You only know about the end of the story. Would 
you feel the same if the brown dog had attack an other dog? A child was 
injured? Perhaps we should reserve judgment until we have more facts. 
Again without facts it is hard to know if  "unnecessary danger to the 
residents" was created. 

You heard gunfire and walk to the end of you driveway (No bright).  Did 
it occur to you that the police may have been helping Edmonston catch 
drug dealers? gang members? In this case, had the dog attacked an 
officer and that's why they fired their weapon? I would suggest that 
when a police officer tells you 'to get in your house NOW, you should, 
for you own safety, get in your house! If in fact you had done what the 
officer told you to do, you would not have been "in close ear shot [for] 
the following violence," You would have been safely in you house. Again, 
with your eyes closed, you don't know whether the dog tried to attack 
one of the officers or not. So again with limited information you 
conclude that there was "very excessive violence."

As a residence of Riverdale Park, let me apologize for our police 
blocking your driveway while risking their lives doing their job (Any 
time weapons are involved, our officers lives are at risk) and of course 
we still don't really know what the actual situation was. And speaking 
of safety, talking on the phone, while upset, in afternoon rush hour 
traffic endangers  not only you but others.

Maybe I should take my meds.

COC

Anne Marie Willis wrote, On 5/13/2008 7:33 PM:
> She said that the police were
> in her yard, putting the dog in a bag. The police had
> told her that the dog had bitten someone up the
> street. She said that this was all the information
> they provided.
>