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<DIV>I want to thank Chief Chambers for giving us a complete and timely report
on this incident. </DIV>
<DIV>This may also be a good time to remind pet owners of the serious
responsibility involved in owning a pet. Leash laws require that all dogs
be leashed. Responsible ownership is key to preventing these incidents.</DIV>
<DIV>We have a great resource in the Canine Training Association which helps
owners train dogs. They are located just up Kenilworth Ave. in
Beltsville. 301-864-1647. You can train your dog/dogs for the
small amount of $75 per year! That's $1.44 per week! You can't
afford not to do it. A trained dog is a pleasure to live with and
training is a good bond for master/dog relationships.</DIV>
<DIV>AudreyBragg</DIV>
<DIV>In a message dated 5/15/2008 8:48:07 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
varcher@gmail.com writes:</DIV>
<DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Dear friends and
neighbors:</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">I asked our Police Chief Teresa
Chambers to draft a letter that outlined the events leading up to the shooting
of a dog on Monday May 12. The letter is provided for your information
and is not an official report. </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Anytime a shot is fired, the
absolute minimum action that the department takes is to have one of our
detectives conduct an internal investigation. That investigation has not
been completed.</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">____________________________________</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">May 14, 2008</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Mr. Mayor –</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">We in the Riverdale Park Police
Department are saddened at having to destroy the dog we encountered.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Many of us are pet owners and care
deeply about the care and well being of animals.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>What occurred prior to shots
being fired are critical factors that led us to take this
action.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">At 3:24 p.m. on May 12, 2008, our
dispatcher received a frantic call from a bicyclist who was commuting to work
via the bike trail that runs between the Northeast Branch of the Anacostia
River and Taylor Road.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The
dispatcher has described the victim as screaming for help, and he told her he
was being attacked by a pit-bull.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>He told the dispatcher he was near the pumping station off of Taylor
Road.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The dispatcher could hear
the dog barking and snarling.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The
victim was using his bicycle to fight off the dog.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Officers were dispatched to the
call to assist the man who was being attacked.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Based upon the seriousness of the call
and the chance of serious injury being incurred by the victim, officers
responded to the area using lights and sirens.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>When the officers arrived and ran on
foot to the bike trail, they saw the dog still attacking the victim and
lunging toward a second victim, a child.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">One of the first officers who
arrived at the scene of the attack first attempted to use a taser to stop the
dog's attack; however the dog's quick movements made it impossible to
accurately deploy the weapon.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>When the dog moved away from the victims, one of the officers was able
to safely fire his issued handgun several times at the dog.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is possible that one or more of the
rounds struck the dog, and the dog began running through the yards toward
Taylor Road in the direction of Longfellow Street. </SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Fearing the dog would attack
someone else, the officers gave chase.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>While we would have liked to have been able to await Prince George's
County Animal Control officers, they will only respond if an animal is
contained in a secured location.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Once the dog got to a location where the officers could fire their
weapons without the chance of injury to a passer-by (5320 Taylor Road), they
fired their firearms at the dog.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Since the dog was still in the open and able to run freely prior to
being shot, to have not destroyed the dog at that time would have been
irresponsible on our part and would have left the Town of Riverdale Park in an
indefensible position if the dog had then attacked another victim.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">It was necessary to fire several
shots to kill the dog.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Animal
Control personnel have trained law enforcement to avoid, whenever possible,
firing a shot to an animal's head when we destroy it (it is important for them
to have the animal's brain to accurately test for rabies).<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In this case, though, the animal did
not die after the first few shots were fired; and, instead of allowing the dog
to suffer further, a fatal shot was fired to the dog's head.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">None of us felt good about having
to destroy a dog who, we later learned, was a pet of a town resident.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>We know, though, that making the
decision to do so was appropriate and necessary and was done in the safest
possible manner.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Teresa Chambers</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Chief of Police</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Town of Riverdale
Park</SPAN></P><BR clear=all><BR>-- <BR>Vernon Archer, Mayor<BR>Town of
Riverdale Park, Maryland
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http://www.ci.riverdale-park.md.us</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? <A title="http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001" href="http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001" target="_blank">Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food</A>.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>