In a little Idaho town: a disabled man, his special dog, and a cop

Quite recently in the little town of Filer, Idaho, a police officer went near the home of a disabled guy at the  time of the man's nine year old son's birthday party,  The family dog, a Black Lab, and also trained to do special things for disabled people, barked wildly at the officer, wagging its tail.  The dog jumped up a couple of times, still wagging.

The officer shot and killed the dog.  That sorry action has understandably split the community wide open.

Black Labs are not naturally aggressive.  But even aggressive dogs rarely bite.  Around Grand Forks and also hereabouts in Idaho, I'd take long walks through neighborhoods, often at night or in the early morn.  Barking dogs were common.  My approach? Basically ignore them, occasionally saying a few nice words.  Now and then, I'd hold out my hand.

The first and last time I was dog bitten was at age ten or so.

The police officer said his life was in danger.  He was suspended briefly and, following a far too common pattern, the case was turned over to a police department in a close by-jurisdiction.  The result was quite predictable: the officer was cleared by fellow police.

Too bad for the man and his dog.  But this also happens much with human beings.  We've had cases around here where police have, in the opinion of many, precipitiously shot and killed people.  And then have been cleared
by lawmen from adjoining jurisdictions.

And this is certainly happening much nationally -- often with racist connotations.  

Here are a couple of links on the killing of the dog at Filer:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/idaho-kills-dog-yards-birthday-party-article-1.1609642   video and photos

http://magicvalley.com/news/local/no-dog-shooting-comments-allowed-at-filer-council-meeting-with/article_5e989a44-928a-11e3-b2a5-0019bb2963f4.html    compilation of stories and update

Hunter Bear


HUNTER GRAY [HUNTER BEAR/JOHN R SALTER JR] Mi'kmaq / 
St. Francis Abenaki / St. Regis Mohawk 
Member, National Writers Union AFL-CIO

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