OAKLAND, CA. — Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts said Friday that the fatal shooting of a family dog by an officer investigating a burglar alarm was “unfortunate” and that the department would be investigating the incident, the second police killing of an animal in five months.
Gloria, an 11-year-old arthritic yellow Labrador owned by Ward and Mary Kate Hallock since she was a puppy, was shot dead Tuesday after it advanced on an officer “in a threatening manner,” police said.
The officer, identified by sources as Victor Garcia, shot Gloria three times with his .40-caliber Glock semiautomatic handgun after the dog came out through an open rear door of the Hallocks’ home on Burgos Avenue in the Knowland Park neighborhood in the Oakland hills.
Garcia told investigators that “the dog was growling and closing the gap between them as the officer was retreating backward,” police said in a statement Friday. “As the dog continued to advance, the officer discharged his firearm, killing the dog.”
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This is so sad =( What can I do to help??
Hi Tom, sign a petition here…http://www.change.org/petitions/view/hold_police_accountable_for_shooting_arthritic_yellow_lab
I am so FKN tired of these GD cops!!! Cop Trash is what this clown is! He was in her territory- show respect for the dog! She was doing her job. Cop was not. How much you want to bet he was sneaking round the back maybe to look in a window and she didn’t like it?
I think your right on with this one. I am an older man that used to hounor the police, much as I do for fiefighters and the like, but things are getting inane, whats going on With the kind of people they are hiring and the type of traing these people recieve. I truly believe a police state is upon us – the evidence is clear, it is happenning everywhere. I am very sorry for the tragic loss of the dog, may we all become vigilent to stand up and say enough! Dog is GOD
Why exactly don’t officers have some sort of animal training? I mean they are inevitably going to have some sort of interaction with dogs and other animals if they are responding to calls like this. It’s disgusting that a dog gets killed for trying to protect it’s home, by someone trying to protect the dogs home. Unfortunate is not the right word.
How much of a threat was she at 11yrs old and arthritic??? This is a sad story and I hope the family gets some kind of settlement out of this, it won’t bring her back but at least department would get penalized for overreaction. Also maybe some kind of law should be put into affect where this is happening, where there needs to be notification that a dog resides at home.
I am sorry, but I don’t buy that the dog was advancing on him in an unfriendly or dangerous manner. Either this officer has never been around dogs before or he was trigger-happy. If the former, then I am sad that HIS fear caused a family so much pain. And, if the latter, then he should be removed from duty. Who needs a trigger-happy cop out on the beat?
It was a frickin’ 11-year-old arthritic dog for God’s sake!