Excessive use of force is something all too common these days among the police. However, one case in Salt Lake City, Utah, has many pet lovers enraged because it appears a cop shot a civilian’s dog, apparently for being aggressive and barking at them. Sadly, the dog died as its owner was crying over it on the pavement, something eyewitnesses have claimed after the shooting took place.
The image above is a screenshot of this Ring camera footage, uploaded by a Facebook user. It’s an alleged recording of what transpired on August 28, in 1700 S. Main, Salt Lake City, Utah. It appears that two patrolling police officers were at the scene for some reason, though they were not called there, according to Sgt. Miles Southworth. As you can see in the image and linked video, however, a dog suddenly started running up and barking at one of the officers as the owner ran after it, and in response, the officer shot the dog.
Sgt. Southworth stated that no officers were injured at the scene and also reported no other information other than how the pet dog died from the shooting. Further eyewitness accounts posted on social media and the Ring camera footage uploaded, however, have detailed that the dog was on a leash and how the officer even pointed the gun at the woman on the sidewalk.
“It was on a LEASH!” claims the Ring footage uploader
“He pointed the gun at the woman on the sidewalk,” commented another user
Meanwhile, another source who claims they were at the scene stated that three shots were fired at the dog and that the owner, a man, was left crying on top of his dying dog on the pavement. The incident has since sparked outrage based on these claims and based on the Ring camera video.
People were condemning the animal cruelty
It’s not clear what exactly caused the dog to run up to the police and start barking, or why the police officers walked up to the pedestrians. However, many people online believed that shooting and killing a dog was excessive, especially when it didn’t even cause injury. The dog’s breed also wasn’t explicitly stated in Sgt. Southworth’s reports, but based on the video, it didn’t seem to be a big one, leading to comments condemning the shooting.
“THESE OFFICERS NEED TRAINING- killing puppies is unacceptable. There is so much more that could’ve been done then to kill someone’s dog who was running after them a puppy,” fumes one Facebook user
“THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!! There is absolutely zero reason that deadly forced should’ve been used on a freaking PUPPY- a puppy running at someone DOES NOT REQUIRE TO BE SHOT 3 TIMES owners were close behind… if your officers are using deadly force on a freaking puppy like this, what the hell are they doing to humans?”
It’s possible that the dog was merely confused at the situation or perhaps thought the police were threatening its owners. Some users were also worried about how close by the dog’s owner was when the dog was shot, and that the officer who discharged his weapon could’ve easily hit the nearby civilians. In any case, more people from Salt Lake City are bringing attention to higher authorities.
“That cop must have some sort of irrational fear of dogs, or have never been around them and thought a puppy running up to them was a life in danger type of situation, or is just a trigger happy POS. But any way you slice it, what the f*** bro,” says a Reddit user
“Discharging a firearm three times at a small dog that was running up barking is a drastic and unjustifiable use of force.The officer completely failed to assess the backdrop, endangering the owner who was directly in the line of fire and risking a catastrophic ricochet. This was profoundly reckless, and it is deeply frustrating.”
