Category: Grrr

Loser Who Killed Dog with Firecracker Charged with… Property Damage?

NOV. 25, 2015 UPDATE: Nicholas Garcia pleaded guilty today to causing the death of his neighbor’s Pit Bull with a firecracker, the Herald-News reports. He was sentenced to three years in prison on a charge of criminal damage to property (not animal cruelty). He must then serve an additional year for reckless discharge of a firearm. He will be eligible for parole in August 2017.

 

The morning of July 7, Nicholas Garcia and a buddy had nothing useful to do with their lives, so they lit illegal firecrackers in a Joliet, Ill., alley.

When Garcia noticed a Pit Bull outside of a neighbor’s yard, he started throwing the firecrackers at him, Deputy Police Chief Ed Gregory told the Times Weekly.

As the neighbors watched in horror, their Pit Bull picked up one of the firecrackers in his mouth.

“It blew off the animal’s jaw,” Gregory told the Herald-News. The dog had to be euthanized.

On his Facebook page, Garcia didn’t express a whole lot of remorse about killing the dog, according to the Joliet Patch.

“Lightin off the rest of my fireworks n the rerarded neighbors that dont know how to put their dog on leash or keep it fenced in decides to chase a boom stick and lost its head…..NOW they care about their dog,” the loser wrote. His page has since been removed.

After being wanted on a $50,000 warrant — not for animal cruelty, but for felony damage to property and two misdemeanor counts — Garcia finally turned himself in yesterday.

Gregory told the Herald-News the case will be reviewed by the Will County state’s attorney’s office to see if felony aggravated animal cruelty charges can be filed against Garcia. If they can, the dog killer could face between three and six years in prison.

An online petition urging Garcia to be charged with animal cruelty has nearly 70,000 signatures as of Saturday morning. (Warning: There is a gruesome photo of the injured Pit Bull.)

Photos via Patch.com

Please keep your comments civil. Any comments with name calling and/or Pit Bull bashing will be removed.

Milwaukee Man Shoots ‘Mountain Lion’ That’s Really a Dog (He’s OK)

JULY 24, 2015 UPDATE: The owner of Simba — whose real name is Homie — has been found after he saw his dog on TV, Fox6 News reports. Homie had escaped from his leash during a walk Tuesday. He is still being treated by the Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission (MADACC).

The bad news: Homie’s leg is not healing properly and he will need more surgery that his owner cannot afford. The good news: Donations are pouring in, and an animal clinic has offered to perform the surgery at a reduced rate. (It seems to me that the man who shot Homie should pay for the surgery.)

To make a donation to help MADACC help Homie, click here.

Since Monday, the Milwaukee Police Department has received dozens of calls from residents saying they’ve seen what looks like a mountain lion roaming a neighborhood on the north side of the city.

After a cell phone video of the alleged lion was posted on social media, the hashtags #LIONWATCH and #MKELion began trending in Milwaukee, according to WDJT.

“Do not approach it, do not panic,” Scott Diehl, with the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, told WDJT yesterday. “If the animal is close to you, maybe 50 yards or so, don’t take your eyes off it. Don’t turn your back on it. Remain facing it at all times. Make yourself look big.”

An unidentified man apparently thought he saw the mountain lion last night. Instead of doing what Diehl recommended, he shot it.

But the victim wasn’t a mountain lion. It was a stray, white Pit Bull who bears little resemblance to a mountain lion.

“The bullet went through his leg, fractured his bone,” Karen Sparapani, executive director of the Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission (MADACC), told WDJT.

The dog, who’s been named Simba (ha!), must wear a cast for six weeks. Hopefully his owner will claim him, or he’ll find a new forever home with a secure yard.

And hopefully the man who shot him will get his vision checked pronto.

“Please do not discharge a firearm because often, besides from maybe not shooting the right animal, a human can be injured,” Sparapani told WDJT.

Another Pit Bull Mistaken for a Mountain Lion

In July 2014, residents became worried after a security camera captured what they believed to be a mountain lion roaming a Norwalk, Calif., street late one night.

After watching the video, even some animal experts were convinced the prowling animal was perhaps a jaguar or African lioness.

Nope. Just like Simba in Milwaukee, this creature was actually a Pit Bull named Buddy.

Buddy had escaped from his yard that night, and his dog dad recognized him in the video.

Unlike poor Simba, Buddy the non-lion was unharmed.

Man Thought Bears Were Dogs

Speaking of people with vision issues, it took two years for a man in China to figure out his two dogs were actually endangered Asian black bears.

Wang Kaiyu bought what he thought were two black puppies, but was surprised by how big they grew and by how much they ate.

When he saw a wildlife protection promotion about Asian black bears, Wang had what Oprah would call an “Ah-HA!” moment. He notified authorities, and his pets were taken to a wildlife rescue center.

Photos via Twitter; Facebook; Facebook

14-Year-Old Dog with Injured Leg Shot 4 Times by Cops

Disturbing details have emerged about the shooting of an injured dog Monday by two officers from the Alton, Ill., police department.

Buster, a 14-year-old Pit Bull who’d escaped from his yard, had apparently been hit by a car and was limping outside a Family Dollar store. Two women saw him and called animal control.

Unfortunately, due to budget constraints, the city of Alton let its one animal control officer go last week. Starting Monday, its police department took over those duties, even though the officers had no training in how to deal with animals.

The two police officers who arrived coaxed Baxter into their squad car using lunch meat, according to Susie Marburger and other witnesses. At a packed Alton city council meeting last night, Marburger said Buster limped to the car and curled up on the back seat.

The officers said they were taking Buster to animal control.

According to the police report, Buster was driven to Alton’s public works building, where the animal control office is located. One of the officers shot Buster two times with a 12-gauge shotgun. The officers claimed Buster was “still vicious and charged him while growling,” so the other officer shot Buster two times with a Glock 23 40-caliber pistol.

The Illinois Animal Control Act stipulates that an injured dog should be taken to a veterinarian. The vet can check for a microchip and notify the dog’s owner before taking any further action.

Buster had a microchip.

“After reading the police report, I am speechless,” Jackie Spiker, co-founder of Hope Animal Rescues, wrote on the nonprofit’s Facebook page late Tuesday.

Spiker had not yet seen the report when she was interviewed by KMOV.com earlier that day and had expressed some empathy for the two officers due to their lack of training in handling animals.

“I do not understand how they were able to coax the dog into their car without getting bit, then coax the dog out of their car without getting bit to kill the poor thing,” Spiker wrote later.

At last night’s city council meeting, Marburger said she did not see Buster show any aggressive behavior, although others said he had been “nippy” due to the pain from his injury.

“He was anxious due to his injured leg,” Marburger said, according to the Alton Telegraph. “I couldn’t believe a limping dog could be put down.”

City council members unanimously voted to reinstate an animal control officer.

Justice for Buster

Before the Alton city council meeting last night, about 150 people peacefully protested outside city hall, chanting “Justice for Buster” and holding signs saying, “Animal Lives Matter” and “Paws Up, Don’t Shoot.”

The Alton Police Department‘s Facebook page is filled with comments from people outraged by the shooting.

“We are very aware that many of our followers are angry with the events involving a dog at Family Dollar on Monday,” the department wrote in a status update late yesterday.

“The decision to use a weapon on an animal is never one made lightly. The officers in this instance felt they had exhausted all available options with an injured dog that was showing aggression to multiple people prior to reaching the conclusion that was reached. … This is a sad situation that will hopefully be used to improve the practices of the police department.”

Spiker and others met with Alton Police Chief Jason A. Simmons Tuesday afternoon to discuss humane ways for officers to deal with animals. Simmons told her the officers had made a mistake and accepted Spiker’s offer to provide training.

However, Simmons did not, as Spiker requested, apologize for the killing of Buster.

Photo via Facebook

Dog with Injured Leg Shot to Death by Police Officers

JULY 23, 2015 UPDATE: Disturbing details about the shooting of Buster, a 14-year-old Pit Bull, have surfaced.

The city of Alton, Ill., let its one animal control officer go last week. Starting yesterday, its police department took over those duties, even though the officers had no training in how to deal with animals.

That same day, two of those police officers shot and killed a Pit Bull mix only because he had an injured leg.

According to several comments on the KMOV.com Facebook page, the dog had been hit by a car and was limping outside a Family Dollar store. Two women called animal control. The police officers who arrived coaxed the dog into their squad car, telling the women and a few other onlookers they were taking him to a veterinarian.

The officers initially said the veterinarian euthanized the dog, according to various Facebook commenters. But when asked for the name of the vet, the officers admitted they shot the dog themselves.

“They felt there was no other alternative, so they took the dog in and euthanized the dog with their weapons,” Jackie Spiker, co-founder of the nonprofit Hope Animal Rescues, told KMOV.com.

“It was the first full day [animal control] was dropped in the lap of the Alton Police Department and it was chaos.”

Public Information Officer Emily Hejna insists Alton’s police officers really do love animals.

“I think it is a very unfortunate situation,” she told KMOV.com. “Our officers are not trained animal control officers and they make decisions with the information they have been given.”

According to Illinois’ Animal Control Act (and common sense and decency, it would seem), an injured dog should not be shot multiple times. The dog should be taken to a veterinarian, who can check for a microchip and notify the dog’s owner before taking any further action.

The dog killed by the Alton police officers was microchipped.

“Let’s come up with a solution so that we can keep a functioning animal control and not put Alton police officers who are not properly trained — and that’s not their fault, they are police officers, they are not animal control officers — so that what happened to this dog never happens again,” Spiker told KMOV.com.

She and others met with Alton Police Chief Jason A. Simmons after the shooting yesterday to discuss more humane ways for officers to deal with animals. Simmons told her he was willing to work on better solutions.

Spiker will meet with Alton Mayor Brant Walker on Friday. A city council meeting tomorrow night is expected to be packed.

Across the country, far too many dogs have been shot and killed by police officers who have had no training in how to deal with them. According to Ozymandias Media, which is producing the documentary “Puppycide” on the topic, a dog is shot by law enforcement every 98 minutes.

In 2013, Colorado became the first state to pass a “Dog Protection Act,” which requires all law enforcement officers to undergo training in dealing with dogs. In May, Texas enacted a law that requires a statewide comprehensive training program in dog encounters to be created by Jan. 1, 2016.

This is a start, but as these sad statistics make clear, teaching law enforcement officers how to humanely deal with dogs should be required in every state. Officers who choose to treat dogs inhumanely should be charged with animal cruelty.

Photo via Facebook

Grrr: UPS Driver Kicks Therapy Dog, Injures Owner’s Rib

Based on a shocking video released yesterday, you might think UPS stands for Unnecessarily Pugnacious Scoundrels.

In late May, a surveillance camera outside of an assisted-living facility in Atascadero, Calif., captured a UPS driver kicking Patch, a small, 10-year-old American Eskimo dog. Patch let out a cry as she was sent tumbling backward.

When Patch’s dog dad, Timothy Paulsen, ran up to the driver, the driver shoved him in the chest, apparently dislocating and re-breaking a rib that had been previously broken in a motorcycle accident.

“This assault was completely unprovoked,” Paulsen told Cal Coast News yesterday. “I nor my dogs did anything to deserve this attack. The driver threatened to kick me as I tried to calm the situation down.”

Although Paulsen’s fist is clenched in the video, he told KSBY he was just pointing his thumb at himself in a non-threatening manner.

“It was a reaction. I said, ‘Hey man, I was sitting right there,’” Paulsen said. “And that’s when he just clobbered me.”

Paulsen regularly brings Patch and his other dog, a Scottish Terrier named Bonnie Bell, to the facility to interact with the residents, many of whom suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.

A resident who asked to be identified only as Richard told Cal Coast News the dogs are always friendly. He said Patch was not acting aggressively toward the UPS driver.

“The dogs were just barking and did not attack anyone,” Richard said. “He kicked the dog twice and it screamed.”

Paulsen contacted the Atascadero Police Department and filed battery charges against the driver. Cmdr. Joe Allen told Cal Coast News the police department is preparing a report to be sent to the San Luis Obispo County district attorney’s office.

The UPS driver, who has not been identified, told police he felt threatened by Patch, who was not on a leash, and by Paulsen.

In an email to KSBY, UPS spokesman Dan Cardillo said the company trains its drivers to be cautious when confronted by dogs and to protect themselves if necessary.

However, “UPS does not condone this driver’s behavior and took disciplinary action,” Cardillo said. “We have contacted the customer and apologized.”

Cardillo did not specify what disciplinary action was taken. Paulsen told KSBY he doesn’t want the driver fired, but hopes UPS will “reevaluate” him.

“He definitely needs some sort of therapy,” Paulsen said.

Many of the comments on the Cal Coast News and KSBY stories support the UPS driver, saying he was just trying to defend himself. What do you think? Please leave a comment below.

Photo via YouTube

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