Okay, let's all remember that we're talking about an incident based upon information published in a newspaper, for crying out loud.
Also, for those of you that aren't familiar with the area, Santa Cruz is on the accelerating downhill slope of the leftward tilt. It's a great place to visit on the weekends, and I spend a lot of time over there and in the surrounding area, but it can sometimes make SF seem like a staunch bastion of conservatism.
Hey, I say that affectionately.
Now, I won't get involved in making judgmental comments based upon information written in a local newspaper article.
I will, however, offer some comments based upon my personal experiences with dogs, and their owners. Also, before my current partner of many years became a cop with us, he was a K-9 handler for several years at another agency, and before that he was a member of the puppy police for several years. He and I have discussed many interesting experiences involving dogs, and shared more experiences with them while working together than I care to remember. I also grew up with dogs, and have a little familiarity with them.
Dogs are not people. They're dogs.
Their owners are responsible for their behavior in most circumstances, and should be, especially when it comes to being unleashed in public areas requiring they be leashed. Dogs can't seem to read very well, or else they're just not inclined to show us that they can.
I encounter dogs on a daily basis in my assignment. Sometimes several times an hour. I'm always the stranger that's causing agitation to their owners, so guess how many of the dogs react to me in a less-than-happy-to-see-me manner. Sure, a lot of them do look at me as an opportunity to play and have fun with a stranger, but more of them simply want a piece of me, or of us.
My partner ... being the dog lover, former K-9 handler and former puppy police that he is ... was recently bit in the hand when he tried to make friends with a large '"friendly" dog. I wasn't present, but he immediately called me to tell me about it (even knowing how much fun I'd have at his expense with it, but knowing I'd have even more fun if he tried to hide it from me.) No warning, no growling, no barking. No apparent emotional agitation on the part of the owner, either, and my partner is so easy-going at times that it makes my teeth hurt. (Guess which one of us often is the "good cop"?
) Just a healthy snap and a couple of perfect puncture wounds in my partner's hand.
You can imagine the fun I had with that for a while.
If he wants to be a "distraction device" and draw the dog's teeth ... who am I to argue?
As long as it's not me.
I've been fortunate that I haven't yet had to shoot a dog, but I've emptied cans of OC at them, and used other means, while preventing too many of them to remember from biting me. I work with several folks that have had to shoot dogs, though, and their experiences have been anything but consistent when it comes to the effectiveness of using a handgun in stopping a dog from biting another person or an animal. Sometimes it's an instant stop, and sometimes the dog seems as though it simply loses interest in biting after hearing the gunshot(s) ... even though it was hit ... and stands around bleeding all over the place until the HS units arrive, and everything you can probably imagnine in between these examples.
If it has teeth, it can bite. If it can bite, it has the potential to cause serious bodily injury or death ... (okay, maybe not a teacup poodle, but you get my meaning) ... and that's notwithstanding the potential for disease transmission.
I've had a lot of dogs exhibit aggressive behaviour toward me before they attacked, and then I've had them attack me without any warning, and silently. They're predictably unpredictable at times ... sort of like people, in that regard. But they're still dogs.
I hope to never see a dog suffer a permanent injury inflicted on it by my hand, caused by the dog owner's irresponsible behavior, including the failure to control the animal and keep it leashed when necessary and/or required by law. I don't wnat to be biotten, however, and will take the necessary, reasonable steps to prevent from being bitten, or allowing anyone else to be bitten.
I'm not saying that I think this is what happened in this case, because I only know what's written in the paper, and who knows how accurate, or complete, that information is? Time, and appropriate investigative work, will eventually determine what actually occurred in this instance. In the meantime, who among us can say with any certainty?
Now, I will offer the personal observation that most all of the dog owners I've encountered, or simply observed, during my normal off time activities in the Santa Cruz area have seemed to be fine, responsible, considerate people. Almost always carefully aware and sensitive to how their animals may interact with other folks. Downright nice folks all around, when it comes to that ...
Who could ask for more? (People should be so nice to other people). There's also some places that permit dog owners to let their dogs run free, exercise and generally enjoy all the doggy activities that dogs like to do ... within reason, and in some cases within certain time contraints. Hey, we've all got to learn to get along together, and that includes people that own animals as pets.
Okay, I remember hearing something on TV once where dog owners aren't "owners" up in SF, but have some sort of city condoned partnership arrangement with them ... but that's another case.
By the way, when my partner was once asked by a SWAT member, prior to a planned raid, how to best stop a large dog that was considered known to be aggressive and dangerous, using a handgun ... my partner told him the best "handgun" to use was a shotgun loaded with 00 buck. They thought he was nuts, but they're entitled to their own opinions. I also talked to another SWAT fellow who told me about a SWAT member that was having the hardest time trying to dislodge a pit bull from his leg, and that was after shooting it at virtual contact distance with a .40 pistol. Dogs can be tough and somewhat single-minded at times ...
I know another fellow that stopped a charging/attacking pit bull in virtual mid-leap ... with a close combat response using a 9mm pistol.
I had a large German shepherd aggressively running at me, snarling and barking, and when I pulled my .357 Magnum service weapon and screamed at it ... it immediately stopped, dropped to the ground and froze there. Damndest thing I ever saw. You'd almost think it might've realized what a gun was, and what I was about to do, wouldn't you?. In the long run, it turned out to have more common sense than its owner ...
Let's wait to see what happens before we start passing judgment, huh?
