{"id":1225,"date":"2012-06-05T20:52:17","date_gmt":"2012-06-06T00:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/?p=1225"},"modified":"2012-06-05T20:52:17","modified_gmt":"2012-06-06T00:52:17","slug":"pit-bull-shot-by-sheriffs-deputies-community-responds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/heavenlycreatures\/2012\/06\/pit-bull-shot-by-sheriffs-deputies-community-responds\/","title":{"rendered":"Pit bull shot by sheriff’s deputies; community responds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>
Diablo was shot Friday night by Monroe County sheriff's deputies responding to a call. (photo: www.facebook.com\/JusticeForDiablo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

There\u2019s a hot controversy stirring here in my hometown of Rochester, NY. I confess I\u2019m late coming to the story, being wrapped up as I am in family tree research. But I\u2019ve finally had time to catch up and \u2026 well, it\u2019s quite a story. Here\u2019s what happened.<\/p>\n

Last Friday, June 2, two\u00a0Monroe County Sheriff deputies responded to a call at a home in the Rochester suburb of Perinton, NY. News reports say the officers were responding to a call for a car blocking a driveway at the home of Gary Brockler; I\u2019ve also heard it was a call for a party disturbing the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

From a 13WHAM news story:<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cDiablo was inside the open garage at his own home and restricted by an invisible fence.\u00a0 When two sheriff\u2019s deputies walked up the dark driveway on Whitney Street its likely dog and man startled each other. With split seconds to make a decision, deputies relied on protocol to treat a dog running at them as though it were a person running at them with a knife.\u00a0 They fired four shots.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O\u2019Flynn said on a local radio show that New York State law allows officers to use deadly force when confronted with an aggressive animal. Brockler claims that the dog was not aggressive, that there was no party at the house, and officers had no reason to shot his beloved family pet. Neighbors back up Brockler\u2019s story, adding that Diablo was a friendly dog who was anything but aggressive.<\/p>\n

As expected, the incident has sparked outrage in the animal rescue community along with the expected \u201call pit bulls are dangerous\u201d other side of the argument.<\/p>\n

And as expected, things have already spiraled out of control.<\/p>\n

Take the Facebook posting by one man, offering a $1,000 bounty on the heads of the deputies who shot Diablo. Responding on WCMF\u2019s \u201cThe Break Room,\u201d O\u2019Flynn said<\/a>, \u201cThis is rather unsettling because we did see the Facebook alert through the Crime Intelligence Center \u2026\u00a0He offered a thousand dollars to anybody who would shoot the deputies.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a rally today, and according to some who were there, it was a bit out of hand.\u00a0Screaming, yelling at nearby school children, and one man with a stuffed beagle hanging from a pole (whatever that was about).<\/p>\n

Jenn Fedele, founder of Pitty Love Rescue, wrote on Facebook:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is awesome to see people stand together but screaming obscenities does not further your cause. We are already viewed as \u2018those crazy animal people\u2019 and not taken seriously enough as it is. Try to make your points in a reasonable manner. You can be loud and make yourself heard without sounding like a raving lunatic.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She\u2019s 100% correct. Advocates for pit bulls\u00a0work very, very hard to rehab dogs, train dogs, and help make them ambassadors for their breed in\u00a0our community. When protestors get out of hand or\u00a0make threats on the lives of officers (or call radio shows and ask for the dog\u2019s head to mount on their wall \u2026 yes, that happened, too), it makes their rescue efforts even more difficult.<\/p>\n

On a hopeful note, O\u2019Flynn\u00a0said\u00a0the investigation will look into the specific incident but also at how officers should respond to family pets in situations like this \u2013 as opposed, I assume, to situations where there are loose dogs acting aggressively. (Yes, there is a difference.) \u201cIs there something we may need to change or should change to improve our performance?\u00a0 We\u2019ll look into that too,\u201d he said in the story.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s hope so. I had an experience a few months ago when officers responded to numerous calls on our street for cars parked overnight waiting for an estate sale the next day. When one officer came to talk to me, he tried to pet Bailey over the fence. She barked and jumped and was quite frankly out of control. When I told the officer not to pet her over the fence, he asked, \u201cWhy?\u201d \u201cBecause she might bite you\u201d, I replied; I refrained from adding \u201cDuh.\u201d \u201cReally?\u201d he said in a \u201cyou\u2019re an idiot\u201d tone of voice, then\u00a0rolled his eyes at me and walked away shaking his head.<\/p>\n

A brief lesson in dog behavior would teach an officer that even in that situation, where the officer is just trying to be nice,\u00a0he shouldn\u2019t reach over a fence to pet a dog. Dogs protect their property; when you reach over into their space, they view it as a threat. (Or they jump and bark and inadvertently bite someone; had that experience as well.)<\/p>\n

In Diablo\u2019s case, it would make sense that two strangers approaching him, in his own\u00a0yard, would cause at the very least barking and at worst\u00a0an attack. And quite frankly, in that scenerio Diablo is in the right. A dog doesn\u2019t know the difference between a sheriff or a burglar; he just knows\u00a0\u201cstranger in my space.\u201d<\/p>\n

And no, I don\u2019t think police officers had the right to shoot the dog. But according to the 13WHAM story, \u201cSince 2009, Rochester Police Department Officers have shot at 78 dogs, killing 30 of them.\u00a0 More than one-third of the shootings occurred when police were executing a search warrant \u2013 in some cases bursting into a home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Obviously it\u2019s a valid\u00a0point that\u00a0while responding to\u00a0calls that there will be cases where officers are faced with an aggressive dog. But there has to be a better way to respond in situations like this one.<\/p>\n

In any event, this story has reached a fevered pitch locally, and will likely continue to spawn rallies and protests and lots of gossip. I was at the coffee shop yesterday when a group of local men (who apparently meet regularly to catch up on the day\u2019s gossip; now I know where to go to get the inside scoop)\u00a0spent quite a bit of time discussing Diablo, his owner, other people they know involved in the situation, and details I hadn\u2019t heard so far. The story is all over the news, and I guarantee that before long you\u2019ll see it mentioned in a national story.<\/p>\n

Brockler has retained the services of local attorney John Parinello, so it\u2019s likely some sort of\u00a0lawsuit is forthcoming. O\u2019Flynn seems sincere in news reports about investigating and also making changes moving forward. I\u2019ll try and keep\u00a0 you posted.<\/p>\n

And\u00a0if I can offer some advice to readers upset about this situation? Take Jenn Fedele\u2019s advice and try to engage in civilized discussion. If you\u2019re truly interested in the well-being of the animals, make your case \u2013 for pit bulls, for the police, whatever side you\u2019re on \u2013 in a well-reasoned, rational manner rather than adding gasoline to an already very emotional fire.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a hot controversy stirring here in my hometown of Rochester, NY. I confess I\u2019m late coming to the story, being wrapped up as I am in family tree research. But I\u2019ve finally had time to catch up and \u2026 well, it\u2019s quite a story. Here\u2019s what happened. Last Friday, June 2, two\u00a0Monroe County Sheriff […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[151,212,5,12],"tags":[615,44,611,612,614,613,617,178,91,92,177,616],"class_list":["post-1225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-animal-behavior","category-animal-health","category-animals-in-the-news","category-dogs","tag-13wham","tag-breed-specific-legislation","tag-diablo","tag-gary-brockler","tag-john-parinello","tag-monroe-county-sheriff","tag-news10","tag-ny","tag-pit-bulls","tag-pitty-love-rescue","tag-rochester","tag-wcmf"],"yoast_head":"\nPit bull shot by sheriff's deputies; community responds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There's a hot controversy stirring here in my hometown of Rochester, NY. 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