Oakland Police Shoot Labrador

So here's one that just makes no sense all the way around.

Oakland police shot an 11 year-old Labrador named Gloria while responding to a burglar alarm at the property.

This lady leaves her house to go somewhere, leaves the back door open for the dog to go in and out and then sets the burglar alarm.  


Err.  Does it surprise anyone that in going in and out of the house, the dog set off the alarm?  What is the point of the setting the alarm if you're leaving a door wide open?  What is the point of setting the alarm while fully aware that you're leaving a door open for something to go in and out of it while you're not home?

One has to wonder if this is the first time she'd done that, and if not, how many false alarms the police had responded to at that location in the past.  (And if there is a history here of false alarms because of the dog going in and out while the alarm was set, this story gets a whole new twist, because the police would be familiar with the dog, but this is all just conjecture at this point.)

So whatever, she did what she did and the police came and according to them, Gloria barked and growled at them so they shot her.

Now.  I'm going to say right here and now that not everyone is a dog person.  Not everyone can tell the difference between a happy-to-see-someone bark and a get-the-hell-out bark.  To some people, the two sound and look exactly the same.  To some people, both are terrifying even if they're coming out of a 2 pound Chihuahua.  Not everyone can identify dog breeds.  Labs are pretty common, but I've had people ask me if my Sainted Labrador was a pit bull.  (lolwhut?  True story.)

But I think just about everyone can tell the hobble of an elderly arthritic being, even a dog.  She was 11 and already had hip issues, something my Sainted Labrador didn't develop until he was nearly 16.  I don't know how well she could ambulate, but I'm guessing it wasn't very well.

How threatened could you really feel by an animal that clearly has locomotion problems?

The family is being really nice about the whole thing, considering.  Nobody is screaming police brutality, and the authorities immediately apologized to the family.  Except the cop who shot the dog didn't.  And I agree with them, it would be nice if the guy who actually squeezed the trigger said, "Hey, I effed that one up.  I'm really sorry."

This comes only about 3 months after police at the same department shot and killed a deer that jumped over a backyard fence.  Trigger happy much?  You'd think these people had never seen animals before the way they react to them.

I think this was completely unnecessary, and wonky as hell.  Someone in Oakland needs to tone down the if-it-moves-shoot-it police training regime.