Tag: puppycide

Despite Animal Rescuers Being at the Scene, Cops Shoot 2 Family Dogs, Claiming They Held Up Traffic

In yet another terrible display of state authority over compassion, police carried out a despicable act of puppycide this past Saturday. A pair of dogs found wandering loose on Interstate 84 near Heyburn became the latest victims in the alarmingly frequent incidents of law enforcement officers discharging their firearms on man’s best friend. This act of thoughtless violence occurred near exit 211 just before 6 p.m., a news release from the Heyburn Police Department revealed.

Cops on scene alleged that the animals were causing traffic to grind to a halt and posed a safety hazard. According to the release, “The speed limit of this section of interstate is 80 miles per hour and traffic cannot stop abruptly.” The dogs, according to the police, were said to be large and unresponsive to the officers’ calls and whistles, and were reportedly causing a traffic backlog.

According to the official police account, the safety of the ‘motoring public’ at the expense of two lives was the trade-off they were willing to make. With heavy Memorial Day traffic, the officers claimed they had no other option but to gun down these two creatures at 6:03 p.m. — just 3 minutes after arriving on the scene. Each dog was shot once and removed from the highway.

Stephanie Carsner, an individual working for an animal rescue shelter and an eyewitness to the event, tells a much different story, however. Carsner had reportedly obtained permission from the Idaho State Police to attempt to corral the dogs. In a now-viral Facebook post, she described the animals as thirsty but “not at all aggressive.”

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Cops Raid LEGAL Cannabis Farm and Execute Man’s Leashed Dog

In an infuriating and utterly horrifying incident that lays bare the problematic reality of America’s drug war, law enforcement authorities with a search warrant on a state-licensed cannabis farm in rural Trinity County near Hayfork, fatally shot the cultivator’s dog on May 2. 

This glaring display of militarized policing in response to what is essentially a civil code violation is a chilling reminder of the inhumane costs of enforcing an immoral law about a plant that is legal in most parts of the country. Despite the victim having a valid state license, the county permit was a bone of contention that led to this brutal incident. The video of this appalling act has gone viral, leading to widespread outrage and backlash — especially since the dog was chained up.

The raid was part of several (between six to nine, depending on who you ask) conducted over the first two days of May in remote areas of western Trinity County, notorious for cannabis cultivation. According to the Trinity County Sheriff’s Department, these raids resulted in the seizure of over 16,000 marijuana plants, 7,500 pounds of processed marijuana, 25 firearms, and $64,566 in cash. The horror.

Police argue that their actions were justified when they executed the dog because it was allegedly trained to attack and lunged at an officer. They failed to mention the part where the dog was on a chain.

What’s more, this account ignores the fact that five of the raided farms were state-licensed — including this one. The grower, Nhia Yang, a 64-year-old Hmong man, had taken necessary steps to legitimize his operations and was waiting on the county license due to administrative lag. Furthermore, Yang had received a CDFW Qualified Cultivator grant and passed an inspection just a week prior to the raid, which affirmed his compliance with state regulations.

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As Folks Rot in Cages for Weed, Cop Gets No Jail for Setting Home on Fire, Killing Two Dogs Inside

In a world where people are rotting in cages for possessing a plant, is it really that surprising to see a former Indiana State Police trooper walk free after admitting to heinous crimes such as arson, animal cruelty, and insurance fraud? Well, that’s exactly what happened, and this glaring discrepancy in the justice system highlights the deep-rooted corruption, double standards, and “blue privilege” that plague our society.

Jeremy Galloway, the ex-ISP trooper, was sentenced to four years on Thursday. However, he won’t be spending a single day behind bars, according to court records. Instead, Galloway will serve the first two years of his sentence on electronic home monitoring, the third year on reporting probation, and the fourth year on non-reporting probation. This lenient punishment comes as a result of Galloway pleading guilty to all charges as part of a plea agreement.

In October 2019, Galloway maliciously set fire to his Tell City home, killing his dogs in the process. Despite the severity of his crimes, Galloway was only placed on administrative leave without pay during the investigation, before ultimately resigning from his position as an ISP trooper. This slap on the wrist is a stark contrast to the draconian penalties faced by individuals who are caught with a mere plant.

The irony of this situation is unmistakable. While Galloway avoids prison for causing destruction and death, countless individuals who have never harmed a soul are languishing in cages for simply possessing or using cannabis. These people are not arsonists, they’re not cruel to animals, and they’re not committing fraud – yet their lives have been upended by a deeply flawed and outdated legal system that seems to protect its own at the expense of justice.

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FBI Agent Accused of Shooting Dog After Altercation With Owner

According to Philadelphia Police, Jacqueline Maguire, who has been head of the Philadelphia FBI Field Office since 2021, shot another women’s dog outside the Touraine luxury apartment building in Philadelphia earlier this month.

Philadelphia Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore said, “When she [Jacqueline Maguire]tried to get her dog back, I think the dog attacked her.” Police say Jacqeline Maguire shot the dog shortly after. However, witnesses to the incident have taken to Instagram and Twitter to tell a different story.

One witness to the incident wrote on Instagram, “I saw the whole thing. I saw the lady pulled out the gun yelling at the owner, ‘I just shot your dog because your dog was trying to kill my dog’ I was walking my dog right across the street I did not hear any dog fighting or growing.”

Federal Whistleblower Kyle Seraphin wrote on Twitter, “Had an @fbi employee from the @FBIPhiladelphia office share this from Instagram. There is no love for this executive manager Special Agent in Charge. This excited utterance about the reason for shooting the dog is admissible and indicates a complete violation of DOJ Deadly Force Policy.”

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While Trying to Kill an Elderly Toothless Dog, Officer Misses and Shoots His Fellow Cop Instead

Earlier this month, a police officer was hospitalized after he was shot by his partner while responding to a non-criminal call about a suicidal person. The suicidal person was not a threat and the officer was not defending himself from a human when he fired his gun. Instead, when the officers walked up to the man’s home, the neighbor’s bulldog came toward one of them, who opened fire to kill the dog.

But he missed the dog.

“The dog charged at the officers,” Detroit Police Commander Brian Harris told WXYZ. “The officers fearing for their safety, one officer fired one round at the dog. The round didn’t strike the dog, it struck his partner in the lower right calf.”

The point about the dog “charging” the officers is contested, however. In the police report from the incident, a witness told investigators that the dog never once charged and was merely barking at the officers.

“We let the dog out to use the bathroom from the side door,” Tiara, the niece of the dog owner told WXYZ. “The police were walking towards this door, the dog comes up, she’s protecting her area. So she just came out and she barked, she didn’t jump on them, she didn’t lunge and he was just going crazy with the gun. I thought he was gonna shoot me because he was swinging the gun all over the place. I almost had a heart attack because she’s not aggressive, she doesn’t even have teeth, she’s old.”

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While Trying to Kill a Dog, A Cop Missed and Shot His Partner Instead

It is no secret that cops shoot dogs — a lot. Frequent readers of TFTP know too well how many beloved family pets are gunned down every year by public servants in the U.S. It happens so much that there is a term for it called “puppycide.” We have an endless archive of stories in which dogs meet their untimely ends at the end of a cop’s gun.

According to an unofficial count done by an independent research group, Ozymandias Media, a dog is shot by law enforcement every 98 minutes. That number could be higher too as many of the cases never make the media reports.

When these cases do make the local media, often times, they are dismissed by apologists who claim the dogs’ owners were committing crimes or should have had better control of their dog. Unfortunately, however, it is not just people suspected of crimes who see their dogs gunned down in front of them. Cops go onto the wrong properties all the time and kill the dogs of innocent families — and they do so with impunity.

Epitomizing the problem with cops shooting dogs is the fact that even their fellow officers are not safe. According to the Knox County Sheriff’s office, two deputies were responding to a call Tuesday night when a dog came from behind the residence.

Deputy Jordan Hurst then pulled his gun and attempted to kill the dog but instead shot his partner, deputy Lydia Driver.

Driver was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center and is recovering from emergency surgery in the ICU. She is expected to recover and according to the sheriff, she is in good spirits.

Hurst has since been placed on paid administrative leave and no details — including the reason for the deputies walking into the yard — have been released. No arrests have been made and no suspects have been named in the response to the reported call.

Instead, the sheriff told the citizens that cops have to make tough decisions and this case is above their comprehension.

“Officers deal with people and situations the average person will never experience in their lifetime. This incident is unfortunate, but we will get through it together. We are blessed to serve a community that loves and appreciates our men and women. For that, I’m grateful,” Sheriff Tom Spangler said.

As this case, and others like it illustrate, it is no secret that police officers are unafraid to put the lives of innocent people in danger and pull their guns out to shoot at dogs. The Free Thought Project has reported on multiple instances in which cops have attempted to shoot dogs and shot men, women, and children instead.

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Deputy Arrested for Torturing Service Dog, Wrapping Him in Duct Tape Before Shooting Him

In the study of psychology, there is a term for those who hurt animals for personal pleasure. It is called intentional animal torture and cruelty and even has its own initialism, IATC. Psychologists have long studied the reasons behind why a person would intentionally harm an animal and the types of people associated with this behavior are often society’s worst. So, when a deputy admits to torturing and then killing a dog, it is likely not the best idea for that person to remain in a position of authority.

Luckily for the taxpayers of Genesee County, they are no longer on the hook for the salary of Genesee County Sheriff’s Office deputy Jacob S. Wilkinson. He was fired this month after admitting to the horrific torture and killing of a service dog.

Normally, when folks find a dead animal, even a dog, on the side of the road, they assume it was likely hit by a vehicle. But when Saginaw County Road Commission employees found this boxer pit bull mix, named ‘Habs’, on the side of the road, they knew instantly that he was not hit by a car.

Habs had been on the roadside for months but was covered in snow. When the snow melted, Habs was found with his mouth duct taped closed and his body wrapped in duct tape to prevent him from moving.

The very idea of duct taping a dog in this fashion is horrifying enough but Wilkinson didn’t stop there. After throwing the completely restrained dog on the side of the road in the snow, Wilkinson put three bullets in Habs’ head and drove off.

Because Habs had been tortured an investigation was launched into his death and when a necropsy — the animal equivalent of an autopsy — was conducted, they found he’d been chipped. Investigators had no idea their investigation would lead back to one of their own — deputy Wilkinson.

Wilkinson worked as a corrections officer for the Michigan Department of Corrections before becoming a deputy with the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office. Habs was part of a program with veteran inmates who train dogs to become service animals for veterans — called Blue Star Service Dogs.

“These dogs master basic obedience, command training, and pre-task training and basic tasks such as turning off and on lights, picking up objects, and opening doors,” Blue Star’s website states.

Saginaw County Animal Care & Control Director Bonnie Kanicki told mLive that Habs was in the training program when Wilkinson adopted him.

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