Doberman Recovering From Surgery Shot 8 Times By Police

I heard about this story through an email list for the Doberman Pinscher Club of America.  There was a vague reference to it, and out loud I said "What?" and then googled key words and found pages about this story.  It is so wrong!  Links to story: Dog Shot By Officer, Doctor Demands Answers For Dead Dog

Jax, a 4 year old Doberman, had one month prior received surgery for a crippling disease called Wobblers.  It is known as Wobblers because that is the way it looks.  The dog walks wobbly, almost as if it is wobbling and can barely stand and keep its balance.  It is technically called cervical vertebral instability, or CVI.  It can affect several breeds of dogs, but usually it is a Doberman.  Horses can have the disease as well.  Surgery is sometimes helpful but never totally fixes the dog.  In other words, the dog will never be as active as a healthy dog the same age. 

Jax and another female Doberman have access to their backyard through a doggy door.  On April 14th, in New Orleans, police officers responded to a false alarm at their owner's home and broke through the wooden gate of their 10 foot fenced in yard to respond to the alarm.  Jax, recovering from the surgery went outside to investigate and an officer unloaded 8 - that is EIGHT shots into Jax, some of them as he was retreating back into his house.  The owner found Jax bleeding to death and his female shaking and cowering in the corner.  The owner, Dr. Patrick Coleman, is a physician and stated in a news story that as he was administering CPR and life saving measures to Jax, and his female was nearby shaking and frightened, the police entered and yelled for him to control his dogs.  Not one was even barking.

This was not the first time the police had responded to an alarm at this home.  There had never been a previous incident with Jax.  The officer fired eight shots at this crippled dog coming out of his doggy door into his own safe yard and going back into his home.

Jax died.

The officer said that Jax came through the doggy door and was running and lunging at him.  He's horribly mistaken.  Having seen Wobblers, and dogs that were recovering, and having taken care of two Doberman rescues with it, and one of my own with a mild case, I can tell you that running at and lunging at are not things a dog striken with Wobblers and recovering from surgery can do.  Jax's veterinarian stated the same.

So, here is Jax, in his own yard, in a fenced in yard.  He is simply coming outside to see what is going on, like any dog would do.  Even a chihuahua.  Unfortunately this officer is prejudiced and afraid of dogs, or possibly just afraid of Dobermans.  Jax, who was doing what any dog would do, investigating, and then upon realizing that this was more than what he wanted to take on returned to the safety of his home.  Eight bullets?  The officer shot eight bullets!  He could have done many other things.  Yelled at the dog to get back, said no, used pepper spray, fired a warning shot into the air maybe?  He would have found that Jax, as commented on by his neighbors is a very good dog. 

I can't imagine the pain the owner must be going through.  I would be so devastated to think that I had been a responsible owner and still couldn't keep my dog safe from the prejudice of anti-canine thoughts and feelings.  What happened to the way things used to be?  Why do responsible owners keep being punished for the actions of those that are irresponsible?  There was an incident a few years ago where a family was traveling through Tennessee and they were stopped and asked to get out of their car, even their children.  The call to police came from someone that reported a car was throwing money out of the window.  The police apparently thought this car was the one.  The family asked to be able to shut the door to keep their family dog from coming out.  The officer refused.  The family dog came out of the car and came walking toward its family.  Not rushing, not running, not lunging.  The officer shot and killed the dog because the dog was a pit bull.  The city later had officer training to teach them how to deal with dogs.  To that officer he was killing a vicious breed of dog - all through prejudice.  The family's view was an officer shot and killed their family member without cause.  We have got to start standing up for these dogs that are harmed due to their breed. 

A well known dog trainer on TV makes fun and is quoted often about how horrible and stupid he thinks we Americans are because we treat our dogs as family members.  He is WRONG.  Shame on him for giving his so called professional permission to people to treat their dogs with aversive and painful treatment, to put chain collars on their necks, to put their lives in a constant state of fear through intimidation and punishment.  Whispering he may be calling it, and I say it is screaming of all the things that true professionals have been trying to get away from for over 25+ years.  STOP.  Just stop the intimidation.  The pain.  Stop putting fear of family into the family dog.  It leads to dogs being unstable, unpredictable, and to biting and aggression.  Do not listen to this self proclaimed expert that every well known trainer in this country is yelling, not whispering, that he is telling you things to do to your dog that will lead to problems.

I had a lady come up to me at an Expo event and proudly tell me that she had read all of this trainer's books.  I told her that I did not agree with his training methods.  She proudly told me that he had given her permission that she had always needed to put her dog in his place as a dog.  Excuse me?  If anything, we don't give them enough credit for what they do, their attitudes, ability to forgive, etc.  What are we teaching children when they watch adults deal with a simple dog misbehaving and we use pain and intimidation to change the behavior? 

I once had a local groomer's daughter doing a natural canine nutrition internship with me and upon her telling her mother that she no longer wanted to hit dogs in their care, her mother stated "Oh no, are you becoming a bunny hugger?"  What is sad is that this groomer advertises herself as a holistic groomer.  Most would connect that with humane as well. 

What I am getting to is that we have many problems here.  One is that people are getting away from being humane and realizing that bad behavior produces bad dogs, those bad dogs cause problems, and then that in turn causes prejudice.  Prejudice from neighbors, citizens, and police officers.  They are judging the breed and not the deed.  This officer shot because it was a Doberman, because it was a big dog.  We need to embrace kindness.  Anything from wave at your neighbor to be kind to a stray dog.  Teach our children kindness is better, always better.  Forgiveness is good.  Patience and staying in for the long haul and not giving up when things are hard, or your dog is having problems housetraining.  Teach adults that we can learn new ways, and give the benefit of the doubt without judging.  I know lots of stuff, but it really does all come together.  Our environment, our lives are all connected by these things.

State your outrage of the fate of poor Jax and the heartache of his family.  Tell New Orleans that you still don't like how their police treat the animals of that town.  Remember how this police force justified driving down the streets and shooting dogs that were loose after Katrina?  Dogs that were not being aggressive.  Dogs misplaced and looking for help.  Google that story and you will find journalists filming it, and it is hard to watch and even harder to see the police officer explain how it was justified because the dogs were having a hard time finding water.  Let the New Orleans police know you are outraged. 

You should be shocked about this story and help and support Jax's family in this.  Your own dog, in its own yard, going out its doggy door to find out what is going on, even when not able to walk well, and returning into its home can have a police officer fire eight shots at it. 

We have got to shun trainers and so called professionals that tell us that punishment, intimidation and fear are a way to maintain and produce a relationship of respect.  Everything about that is wrong, everything sounds wrong doesn't it?  Fear, intimidation, punishment produces respect, trust and love. 

We have to punish bad dog owners, not the dog.  We have to realize that any dog can be a bad dog and any dog can be a good dog.  It it depends on the owner.

So, stand up for the good owners when you can.  Fight the ones that are bad, and call for your community and those near by to be educated and fair. 

Jax, died and didn't need to.  Take up for your fellow responsible owner.  Express that you think this is way too extreme a behavior.  This should sadden anyone that reads about it, and frighten any responsible owner.  The old quote, stated many different ways by many different people, that a society can be judged by how it treats its animals is true.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.. I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man"
-- Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948)

So, here is another call to action.  Take a minute.  Read further about this event, and send your thoughts to those that can make a decision to train their officers.  The local humane society has offered to bring someone in to train at their expense. 

I am so sorry for Jax.  It is hard to lose a family dog, a family pet.  I can't imagine having tried to save the dog from a horrible disease, and then losing the dog in this manner.  Remember: "...the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man".

Here is a link to contact the New Orleans Police Department: email form for N.O. Police Dept.

Till later, woofs.

   

Comments

[Defendthyself]

I agree with you that if the policemen had used Pepper Shot Pepper spray instead of Stun gun we would have saved the life of Doberman Dog.

[Doberman Heroes]

Hi. I posted about this incredibly sad story on the Doberman Heroes blog. It's the DPCA's blog launched in time for the breed's 100 year anniversary. It is an unbelievable story. The TV news coverage video where the owner was interviewed . . . So sad!