Oakland Police Kill Family Dog, Leave Note

October 1, 2010 3:48 PM

Gloria, the yellow labrador shot by Oakland Police. (CBS)

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Dog shot, Family pet, Labrador, Oakland, Oakland police

OAKLAND (CBS) – The police officer who fatally shot a family’s arthritic dog during a search for a robbery suspect would not have had time to reach for a Taser, police said Friday.

The 11-year-old Labrador, named Gloria, was killed at a home on Burgos Avenue on Tuesday as two officers searched the property. The owner, Mary Kate Hallock, was out running errands when her burglar alarm sounded.

“Our hearts and prayers go out to the family. Any time we go out to a situation like this, we don’t ever want to use any type of force against an animal,” said Officer Jeff Thomason, a spokesman for the Oakland Police Department.

Oakland Police Defend Officer Who Killed Family’s Dog

One officer entered the home while the other remained outside the backdoor of the house with his firearm drawn. That’s when the dog charged, Thomason said.

“He had his firearm out focusing on that rear door. He believed that there was a suspect inside. The dog did come out and start charging at the officer, growling. And the officer waited until he was about three feet away before he was able to fire off his hand gun.”

Hallock returned home to find a note on her door from the police explaining what had happened.

Department policy calls for pepper spray or a Taser to be used first in subduing an animal. Thomason said these circumstances were different since the officer would not have had time to switch weapons without risking serious injury.

The Oakland Police Department has received numerous hone calls from people wanting to help the family get another Labrador, Thomason said.

A report on the entire use of force incident is expected in late 2010.

Oakland Police Kill Family Dog, Leave Note

MALACHI

SORRY THIS IS SO WRONG AND THE OFFICER SHOULD HAVE USED BETTER KNOWLEDGE THEN TO JUST OPEN FIRE AND KILLING GLOORIA WHY NOT US SCENSE AND MAYBE WOUND IT 3 SHOOTS THATS A BIT EXCESSIVE. I HOOPE THE FAMILE SUES

MALACHI

SORRY THIS WAS TOTALLY BAD JUDGEMENT ON THE OFFICERS PART, TWO OFFICERS, ONE SHOULD HAVE HAD THE COMMON SENSE TO CALL ANIMAL CONTROL. WHETHER ON A CALL OR NOT THEY INVADED HER SPACE AND HOME. WHETHER ON A CALL OR NOT THERE IS NEVER ANY REASON TO USE SUCH FORCE. 3 SHOTS? WHY NOT A WARNING SHOT OR A SHOT A STUMB HER, NOT KILL HER. I MEAN I’M TOTALLY AFRAID OF DOGS BUT I DON’T CARRY A GUN SHOTING THEM. AND IF A DID, WATCH THE PUNISHMENT I’D RECIEVE. BUT THIS COP WILL GET OFF BECAUSE POOR GLORIA HAD A “THREATING MANNER ABOUT HER”. I HOPE THE PARENTS/OWNER SUES. THIS SHOULD ALSO BE A WAKE UP CALL TO ALL POLICE DEPARTMENTS MAYBE CARRY DOG MACE. AND AT NO TIME AN OFFICER SHOULD DRAW HIS REVOLVER UNLESS IN A LIFE DEATH SITUATION. OAKLAND POLICE HAVE WAY TOO MANY ACCIDENTS. RETRAIN THE DEPARTMENT OR SOMETHING…. THIS ISN’T THE WILD WILD WEST. SORRY ABOUT THE JIBBERISH UP ABOVE THIS JUST REALLY GOT ME BY THE COATTAIL.

Bob

outrageous
postal carriers put up with this on a daily basis and they don’t need guns to deliver mail!

Mommy of one

This is a great point. Honestly what harm can a dog do to a full grown man? Big deal if you got a little bite on your ankle the family dog would still be alive. What a shame.

Oaklandsucks

Shoot that cop. What kind of person regardless of your occupation shoots a dog just being a dog. I normally am on the side of cops but this is outragous and unecceptable. If that was my precious dog, I would of gone after him and ended his life. This is NO different than killing a child.

Chris

You are kidding right? comparing a dog to a child is absolutely idiotic.

s

i hope the family sues. the dog was just protecting her territory. the cops WERE IN HER TERRITORY! so what if she growled at them. that is not an excuse to shoot and kill her. the cops that were involved need to face disciplinary action. it seems they need better training for these situations. maybe if they’d had a dog treat to give her, she would’ve warmed up to them.
dd

us and them
dcsports

This is absolutely unconscionable and completely unacceptable. What is wrong with the OPD? I am really getting tired of reading about macho, ‘para-military’ cops running around with 9mm sidearms discharging them indiscriminately.

Did it occur to the responding officer to call animal control first before simply pulling out his weapon and executing a defenseless 13 year old animal?

Someone needs to investigate this nonsense…

Concerned Citizen

Somebody needs to read before they type in rage. The officers believed a dangerous suspect was inside the building, and already had their weapons out. The dog was aggressively charging the officer. The officer therefore had a reasonable suspicion that he was going to be harmed if action was not taken. He did not have time to switch to a less lethal method of removing the threat. As a student who will become a police officer, I would have done exactly the same thing if I were in the situation.

pete

This cop is EVIL and needs to be punished for what he did.
Bloodhounds

Terrible! The cop should be fired. If I was the dog owner I would sue the OPD. It was a 13 year old lab! Well, cops shoot people in the back, so what do you expect? Sick!

BJ

I completely agree. If a pet were to kill an officer, the city would sue the owner. By reason, the reverse should also be true.

Alan Cabal

A 13 year-old arthritic Labrador Retriever is such a threat that the OPD finds it necessary to shoot it three times? Arm the citizens and fire the whole lot of them. Cowards shouldn’t be cops.

i hate OPD

i totally agree with you, COWARDS should NOT be cops,

D

Oakland, when will the killing stop?!
Walter

Sorry, but “it’s a Yellow Labrador Retriever!” (no caps) What’s the worst thing that could have happened with a “charging yellow lab with arthritis?” or Any charging yellow lab? He could have bumped into the officers leg. A bruise. Nope, no spin today: It was a yellow lab. Clearly identified as a yellow lab. Seriously anyone who knows dogs would have put the hand out “stop”! Cops know that one…guess what? The dog would have stopped because it’s a yellow lab. No spin today–they are trying alright! Oakland Police are…for all intents and purposes…thick as a concrete sidewalk.
james

What a STUPID COP. How is the dog suppose to react when there is an ‘intruder’ in ‘his’ yard??
DEA417

OPD..did the POST training program teach you guys anything? This is an out rage and he should be fired for this non-sense. Trigger happy “above the law” cop!!!
i’m filled with hate for the OPD

**** the POLICE , I AM extremely MAD, what the **** is wrong with that son of a *****. I hope KARMA hits him 10 FOLDS, i hope he breaks his leg and lose him arm that shot the dog. #$%$@#%@$#^@^

SERIOUSLY THO, its a Labrador, they are GENTLE< (*#&)(#*&)@(*$&%(*$@
RR

The Cops should be Fired and Sued.The Dept and the two cops.This was wrong in every sense of the word. All the dog was doing was guard his yard.
pat

I support OPD. They got a call that an alarm went off. They do not shoot dogs unless needed. God Bless the OPD

BJ

There’s a reason why police have pepper spray. Hopefully I don’t run into you on the street–I’ll bash you on the head and leave a note saying “this dude needed a bashing.”

Realist

If only the public would be this outraged when an innocent bystander gets hit with some thug’s stray bullet in Oakland…oh wait, that is now normality over there. Sad day for both parties.

Kendall

Please — this story is about a dog, not some bystander and JUST as many people would be outraged, so seriously, shut your mo

Count on nobody

And gang weenie cowards run loose…….this cop/cops should have the S#!T knocked out of them…..SUE THE HELL OUT OF THE OPD PEOPLE, THIS WAS YOUR PET AND DIDN’T DESERVE TO BE MURDERED…..TRIGGER HAPPY PIGS
Pat

They shot a LAB? an 11year old LAB! Are they totally lacking in any common sense? I might understand if this was an attacking pitt bull, BUT a LAB – this is stupider than the “agressive deer” – who are they hiring over there? Any dog would bark and even growl if a stranger comes onto their property – especially in a menancing manner and threatening manner (to the dog – too bad she didn’t have a gun) FIIRE THIS GUY AND HIS BOSS AND SET UP SOME TYPE OF ANIMAL AWARENESS TRAINING FOR THE REST OF THEM. Usually, I am supportive of the police (my brother is a cop) but this is dumb, dumb, and dumb.

Kendall

Stupid — a lab is JUST as capable of attacking a person JUST like a pitbull — you’re the reason we have people scared of dogs who are innocent. The PEOPLE who own pitbulls are the ISSUE, and CLOSEMINDED individuals such as yourself are just as bad.

Zack Debarco

A little discretion goes a long way. What really did happen? It will depend on where the dog was and if the officer had a chance to move back. We’re not talking Pit Bull here, although I know every dog can bite. I think that if it were me, I first would have realized if the dog is barking at me, there probably might not be a burglar. As a dog lover, tough call. A little more thought before shooting, if possible, would have possibly had a better out come.
David

I think that they laid off all of the OPD employees that could read and write.
carol

Where’s the training. Who’s or what is next. A little boy with a squirt gun that may be a little threatning. They are just too trigger happy.
susan c

the officer that did this should be FIRED IMMEDIATELY and prohitibted from working in law enforcement ANYWHERE FOREVER !!! gloria’s owners should sue the officer for every thing the officer has. it was a despicable act that needs to be punished. the punishment: working in an animal shelter.
al

these are the cops that get paid over $100k/yr..and for what? shooting bambi and the family dog for no good reason. pathetic.
outraged

UNACCEPTABLE the cop who did this should be fired immediately. There is no way any reasonable person could conclude that an 11 year old arthritic yellow lab is any kind of threat. This police officer is obviously incompetent and cannot make critical decisions under pressure. This person should not be allowed to bear a firearm and certainly should not be a police offer. I do question the details about a burglar alarm being on with the door open and a dog there, but we should be able to have the basic expecation that the police will not shoot our dogs so quickly.