Every 98 minutes, a police officer shoots and kills a pet dog. According to the U.S. Department of Justice statistics, over 10,000 dogs are shot and killed by police every year. These numbers are both troubling and tragic. The number of incidents of officers using lethal force against family pets is growing, from SWAT raids to simple calls and even visits to wrong addresses.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund partnered with Ozymandias Entertainment to produce the award winning documentary, Of Dogs and Men, which follows the people fighting to change these statistics. It shows the tragedy of loss and the struggle of changing a legal system in which police officers are an integral part. Of Dogs and Men tackles this struggle and highlights the need to keep police officers and dogs safe.
Of Dogs and Men will be premiered by the ALDF on Thursday, September 22nd, 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM. The documentary offers comprehensive solutions to turn the trend around through proper training for law enforcement officers. The film makes a strong case for mandatory training for police officers—and our local governments should be funding this training. Postal carriers routinely encounter dogs in their daily work, and remain safe because of their training in non-lethal approaches.
The premiere screening will feature a Q&A session after the film with the film’s director Michael Ozias, producer Patrick Reasonover and Animal Legal Defense Fund attorney Diane Balkin discussing how we can change the system to better protect police officers and our pets.
“The law needs to mandate that officers receive the training they need to feel comfortable interacting with dogs in the field—without resorting to lethal force.” Animal Legal Defense Fund Executive Director Stephen Wells.
Changing how police officers react to pet dogs is a necessity. With over 10,000 pet dogs killed each year by police officers, their actions need to change by teaching them how to interact with dogs without resulting in their deaths.
For more information, please visit aldf.org/police.
Tina Evangelista-Eppenstein is a television talk show host, speaker, writer and animal advocate. She hosts the show, ” A Close-Up Look at Animal Welfare Issues.” Have a story, please email Tina at tevangelistaepp@yahoo. Like my tv page at https://www.facebook.com/ACloseUpLookAtAnimalWelfareIssues and check out AnimalWelfareIssues.com for all the tv shows you may have missed!
The cruelty of humans , vrs. The kindness of humans.
The kind humans have to always fight the cruel humans or what a horrible world it would be.
We need more laws in that area.
We need laws for responsible breeding.
I wish I had the money to fight for animal rights.
I buy lotto tickets , and cruel humans against animal rights look out! I’ll be coming after you with all my animals.
Thank You for showing the world how cruel people are. ?????????????????
I had no idea that many dogs were killed by the police. The number is astounding. Why hasn’t anything been done to stop this? I can’t believe this.
Finally. Cops killing pet dogs needs to end! I can’t comprehend why they haven’t had training since many forces have K9 officers and have to be trained. Officers must be trained how to greet a dog, how to read their body language, know the difference between aggression and fear, happy or mad, etc. Body language is the key. You can still go up against an aggressive dog if you have the means to understand the situation. One doesn’t have to kill because they feel threatened. They’re trained how to deal with people and taught to kill as a last resort. It seems they’re more scared of dogs, and innocent, friendly dogs at that, than people. Police forces- please heed the warning and make this mandatory training for your officers. There is no need to kill a dog unless a life is at stake and there is no other way to calm the situation. Do it for the love of dogs and animals everywhere. You want us to respect your K9’s. Please respect ours.
Very glad to read this. The police are the ones who need to see it. I agree with mandatory training for police officers and how to deal with dogs.
I’d be scared if police had to come to my house. I’d be scared because I have big dogs but they don’t bite. They bark which is good to keep people away. Police might not see it the same way and shoot and ask questions later. I have a sticker in my window letting people know about my dogs. I don’t know if that makes a difference to the police. Luckily, the police haven’t been to my house and I want to keep it that way.
They do need training. Too many innocent dogs are dying and their deaths are hurting families.
oh hell yeah. Mandatory training needs to be enforced. I know someone who lost their dog because of a police officer. The dog didn’t do anything but the police had no idea how to diffuse the situation so the dog was shot. Nothing happened to the officer. That is wrong.
Another cop killed a pet dog after it bit him in the hand. I don’t know if the dog continued to be aggressive toward the cop or not. I don’t believe he had to kill it. There are other ways to control a situation. Cops definitely need training when it comes to dogs. They seem to be more scared of dogs than people. Too many dogs have been killed. Training should be mandatory now!