In Wyandanch, N.Y. two dogs escaped their yard and were shot and killed by the police.
The two Staffordshire bull terriers had gotten loose before but with a very different outcome. On the other occasions they returned, this time they did not.
The owner, Keith Outlaw, realizes he is responsible for the dogs getting out, but according to him both were very friendly and had never harmed anyone. The police say they were driving through the neighborhood when they saw the dogs chasing a group of children, all got away and were unharmed. The dogs were eventually cornered into a fenced yard.
Newsday.com has the details on what happened next.
They closed the gate, trapping the dogs inside, and called animal control officers. But as they waited for animal control, the homeowner – an elderly deaf man – stepped out of his house.
“The officers were yelling at him to go back in the house, but he couldn’t hear them because he was deaf,” the representative said.
When the dogs charged at the man, the representative said, the officers shot and killed both dogs.
Outlaw was out searching for his dogs when he heard shots. He followed the sound of gunshots and found the police at a house on 19th Street. Upon approaching the police he learned that his dogs had just been shot and killed.
Outlaw is devastated over the loss of Onyx, who was three-years-old, and Dutchess who was only a year and a half. He said the dogs had never been in a fight and he’s just grateful that he has their nine puppies, who are thankfully just old enough to be weaned.
This is a very sad story, which could have been avoided. I can’t judge Outlaw because we’ve lived with our own Hairy Houdini for many years now, he is an escape artist extraordinaire. I don’t think there’s anyone out there who can say their dog never got loose.
As for the police, what they saw and what was happening may have been two different things. Were the dogs “charging” or just running up to play? Did they have to shoot to kill? Again, I can’t judge the police because I wasn’t there. I just hope the dogs weren’t shot because the police classified them as pit bulls and therefore assumed they were vicious.
The bottom line, we’ll never know.
