Police dog shootings put focus on training

It’s an emotional issue.

To many, pets are members of the family. The owners in these shootings all describe their pets as loving, non-violent animals.

Officers, some of whom have been bitten, look at it differently. They only know they have a unpredictable and possibly threatened animal charging at them and must quickly decide how to deal with it.

Nearly two weeks ago, Atlanta Police Officer Lucas Wagaman, investigating a home alarm in Kirkwood, chose lethal force when he killed a black lab named Ciarra. Wagaman wrote in his report that two dogs (Ciarra and another black lab) were “running full speed” at him and he feared Ciarra was going to bite him and “cause great bodily harm.” He fired two shots from three to four feet away, according to his report.

“It’s a difficult situation,” said Cobb County police spokesman Sgt. Dana Pierce, speaking about these incidents generally. “Officers only have a split second from the time that canine starts at them in an aggressive way. Do you know if it’s going to stop short and bark at you?”

In Kirkwood, homeowner Elizabeth Feichter asserted Wagaman had plenty of options besides shooting Ciarra, a 65-pounder the family adopted from Georgia Lab Rescue.

“He could have said ‘Stop!’, he could have said ‘Wait!’, he could have pulled out Mace, he could have just stepped behind our garden fence, he could have fired into the ground,” Feichter said. “Ciarra would have taken off and sat shivering in a corner. She’s very timid.”

One national expert said officers would benefit from instruction on using less violent options, such as their baton or chemical spray.

“Reaching for a firearm, there’s no way to get that back once it’s discharged,” said Joe Pentangelo, a retired New York City detective who works for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

“Experience has taught us there are no smart bullets. Besides the humane aspect, even if you’re not an animal person, once they’re discharged they very often injure unintended targets.”

To caution against firing a gun, Pentangelo mentions what happened last month on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. When police fired at a pit bull charging at them from an apartment, three officers and the woman who opened the door were hit by bullet fragments.

Pentangelo leads eight-hour training sessions for New York City officers. The sessions cover dangerous dog laws, investigating animal cruelty and dogfighting, as well as tactics on dealing with domestic dogs.

Training varies by state, and by department.

Atlanta City Councilwoman Natalyn Mosby Archibong responded to the Kirkwood shooting by urging the Atlanta Police Department to add specialized training.

Atlanta police issued a statement Wednesday saying new officers receive extensive training in when to use force against an “aggressor,” be it human or animal, and that the Police Academy is “researching best practices associated with aggressive dog encounters” to see if additional training is warranted.

In Cobb, which had an officer use lethal force in July against a charging pit bull, the Animal Control Unit will start teaching a four-hour session to police recruits.

Until now, Pierce said, Cobb County police have relied heavily on Animal Control. In addition to the new class for recruits, the department is open to adding animal-specific instruction to the firearms training officers get three times a year. Pierce added that once the department has enough Tasers for every officer, police would have another non-lethal tool at their disposal.

Archibong noted the U.S. Postal Service requires two hours of animal defense training for mail carriers, New York requires training on dealing with domestic animals and Maryland tracks shooting incidents involving pets.

“I know the Humane Society provides training for law enforcement to understand animal behavior, so they can avoid the kind of thing that happened in Kirkwood,” Archibong said. “I’ve asked the police department to look into providing additional training so our officers can be better prepared.”

Here’s what happened in two other local cases:

July 10: A Cobb County Police officer responding to a domestic dispute in Vinings killed Ruckus, a purebred American Pit Bull Terrier. According to the incident report, the "100-pound pit bull ran into the garage and was shot three times" by an officer.

Police spokesman Joe Hernandez said officers heard loud barking from inside the apartment and the dog “made aggressive movements towards an officer on-scene.”

Hernandez added: “The officer felt threatened, and felt that his safety and the safety of the other officers and citizens on scene were in jeopardy.”

Ruckus’ owner, Darryl Vinson, disputed that version.

“He never barked or showed aggressive tendencies toward the officers,” Vinson said. “If my dog jumped or bit the officers, I’d completely understand. But he was just a good dog.”

April 24: An Acworth Police officer shot and killed Tomato, a 39-pound Rottweiler-shepherd mix, after the dog bit him on the knee on Academy Street.

Police spokesman Maj. Wayne Dennard said the unrestrained dog had chased the officer into the street and that the officer “did what he had to do.” Tomato’s owner Bower Taylor, a teacher, said the dog wasn’t vicious and even came with him to school as part of a writing lesson called “How to Train Your Dog.”

“She could be unleashed and hang out with 140 groping, jumpy 13-year-olds, no problem,” Taylor said.