Talk about ruining someones day

jason

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from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal

Milwaukee police investigate officer's shooting of spaniel
By REID J. EPSTEIN
[email protected]
Last Updated: June 19, 2003
On a night when she talked a friend out of suicide, Valerie Mueller lost her cocker spaniel to a Milwaukee police officer's gun.

Mueller and Sprite were in their backyard waiting on police to arrive at her home around 2 a.m. When squad cars arrived, Sprite bounded toward the officers. Seconds later, Sprite was shot in the head and killed.

"He fell over and flinched," said Mueller, who was standing about 10 feet behind Sprite when the officer fired. "To see him fall over flinching and die right there, it's just hard to explain."

To make matters worse, Mueller was issued a $120 citation for having Sprite outside without a leash.
Here is the full story:

http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/jun03/149427.asp
 

shell

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OMG! That just breaks my heart! Words can not describe how mad I am at that Cop. If I were in the owners shoes, I'd be out get that Cops badge!
 

jcat

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That's horrible! How much damage could a cocker spaniel do, even if it were attacking the cop? If it had been a Rottweiler or Mastiff I could have understood it. The owner is perfectly right to sue.
 

sockiesmom

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That's horrible.


A similar incident happened here last year, the police got a warrant (sp?) to search an apartment and they went to the wrong one. There was a rather large dog named Bear, supposedly he was very well tempered. I guess he was puzzled about why the police were there, and barking, so the police shot him. His poor owner had to return from work that day to find her poor dog dead and her apartment ransacked by the police, even though she had done nothing wrong.
There was a lot of news coverage about it, but I cannot remember if the police officer got any punishment.
 

sherral46

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I hope they hang that cop out to dry!!!! My God a cocker??,Hell years ago I cleaned a women house who had one and it was so scard of people it peed everytime someone said boo!!!!!!!!!
 

katl8e

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Cocker spaniels aren't always so friendly. A cocker caused my son, Mark to have three stitches, just below his nose. This was when Mark was three. One month later, the dog bit him on the hand. These were unprovoked attacks.
 

rang_27

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Well being from Milwuakee myself I can say this is not the first time I've heard of a dog being shot by a police officer. The truth of the matter is just like any other city, there are certain areas in Milwaukee that have a large population of AGGRESSIVE pit bulls. The word aggresive being key because I know that a dogs behavior is based more on how it's raised & not it's breed. I think what happens is that people become afraid of dogs that are not leashed & police officers happen to get the publicity because they carry guns & have the authority to use them. I by no means think what he did was right, but I do think that ALL dogs should be kept on leashes or in fenced in yards. Not just for the safety of the people around them, but for their own safety as well.
 

tarav

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I was surprised when I started grooming dogs that Cocker Spaniels are some of the meanest dogs that we groom. I am not by any means saying though that a cop should have just shot a dog, that is wrong!!
 

katl8e

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For several years, Cocker spaniels were the #1 dogs (source: AKC registrations). This led to a lot of unscrupulous breeders churning out puppies.

Whenever a breed gets popular, the quality of the dogs deteriorates. Look what happened with Dalmatians, after the movies were released. Shelters and rescue organizations are full of purebred dogs, that people bought on a whim and found out that they couldn't handle.
 

xastion

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Any dog can become agressive and all dogs can attack provoked or unprovoked. They are an animal with usually very high territory issues. Since the dog was leashless and running toward the cop it is a sign of possible danger. A cop will shoot if they suspect any possible threat to themselves or to their fellow officers. I am not saying that it was right, but it is something to keep in mind anytime you are around them.
 
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