By Elisa Black-Taylor
I see a different mentality between cat and dog owners in this country. Well, around the world as some of my friends live in other countries. I want to explain what I’m seeing and I’d like for the readers here to give me their own opinion. I apologize for being a bit long on this article.
I first noticed this in the past few weeks, as I’ve covered a lot of family dogs shot by police articles for my writing on dogs for Examiner.com. I’m currently #4 Dog Examiner in the U.S. and I’m doing well because there are so many cases to cover. I never run out of writing ideas. I’m even studying landmark cases and forcing myself to study a lot of legal court records. Michael, I don’t know how you did it! I need a book titled “Dogs Wrongly Killed for Dummies.” There are “dummy” manuals for everything else these days. I’ll either gain a bit of legal intelligence or drive myself a bit more insane. My focus is on past cases where dog owners sued the police (or city) and won a cash settlement.
Dog owners here are tired of police either busting into their homes or being at the wrong address and their family dogs pay the price. My most recent article was about a police officer killed when he pointed a stun gun at a dog owned by a horrible individual. The officer had been ordered by the chief to “kill the dogs” at which time the owner killed him. This article has received a lot of comments about how he was a good man and left behind a wife and two small kids.
The comments on these dog articles can be upsetting. I see a lot of people who think the officer “got what was coming to him.” On the dogs killed articles I see comments saying they hope the officer “burns in hell” or “spends the rest of his life in jail”. The officer shot had several comments praising his death.
I even admit myself if someone pointed a gun at my dog, I’d take a dive toward my dog or the officer. I consider it a “mothering” instinct more than a dislike of police officers. My article about the slain officer was to warn people there are a lot of crazy people out there. I’m surprised I’ve only found one case leading to death.
I don’t see this type of hatred on the cat sites. I see major disagreements sometimes. There are a few extremist groups who have commented in the past on PoC that fit the mentality of these dog owners who leave negative comments. I received a lot of feedback on my PoC abuse articles, where cat lovers state they want maximum punishment for the abuser. But I don’t see the raw hatred that’s in the comments on my cat articles that I do on the dog articles I write.
Just about everyone who comments on the dog sites is like our notorious cat hater who calls himself “the Woodsman” who Michael has such a cat and mouse game going with. Only it’s towards the police instead of the animal. Which may be justified since almost all of the dogs shot were innocent and not a big threat. Certainly not enough for the dog to be killed.
I almost titled this article I’m writing now “Could You Kill A Cop Who Threatened Your Cat?” That would be a bit insane because I can’t picture a police officer being afraid enough of a cat to kill it. A cat-hating officer may kill a cat then hide that fact. The cat would disappear and no one would be the wiser. I just can’t picture a cat as being the same threat and openly shot in front of its horrified owner. A few cats have even been known to scare off burglars (Gwen Cooper’s little Homer of Homer’s Odyssey fame is one).
I picture most cats as lazy laid-back. That may be the difference. Affectionate dogs are often misjudged as aggressive. I recently did a story of an officer who killed an 18-pound dog. I have CATS almost that size! I have a problem with an officer killing a dog that couldn’t reach high enough to even bite him on the knee.
We have a big problem in this country with police shooting and killing any family dog who walks toward them. People became upset months ago, then angry. Now they’re infuriated and fighting back. They’re also condemning police without judge or jury. Some officers deserve this. In fact, most of them do. I handle the stories I believe I can make a difference in. Anything to get laws made to protect dogs and punish those responsible for senseless killings.
Michael recently did an article about the women who killed or injured a spouse when the spouse threatened to kill a cat. It’s at https://pictures-of-cats.org/Killing-Would-be-Cat-Killers.html. I did a similar one for my dog column and the response was overwhelming. I’m giving you the link to that article so you can check it out. Feel free to check out some of my others while you’re at it. It’s at www.examiner.com/article/would-you-kill-your-spouse-to-protect-your-dog
Perhaps I’m too involved in this, as I love dogs and cats equally, although for different reasons. Are dog-only owners of a different mentality than cat owners? I see cat owners as more relaxed. Earth-friendly and nurturing. Sometimes. Unless you make them mad and they come out with their claws ready for a fight.
Do dog owners just have a different set of problems to worry about concerning ownership? Or is their general outlook on life totally different than cat-only people? What do the readers here see as the most important difference between cat people and dog people? Or do you see a difference at all?
Also, do any of you believe the Woodsman likes dogs, or does he hate animals in general? Hi Woody Woody! Care to comment?
Comments are much appreciated on this one. I’m going to pass this article around to my dog sites, so be prepared for some new faces on here. I hope someone appreciates this topic enough to take the time and comment. It’s often hard to judge the articles that will go over well and the ones that just take up internet space.
Of course dog owners have a different set of issues to deal with, are you kidding me? This article shows you to be completely ignorant on the subject, even with the apparent research you’ve done.
No one is going to call the cops and try to get your cat put down, for one.
In that sense, anyone who kicks the crap out of your cat and then gets bit, for example, is going to have anything said about them other than, “they got what was coming to them!”
Dog’s are expected to take the brunt of abuse from strangers and children, due to both ignorance or evil, and the SECOND they snap, they are deemed dangerous and put to sleep. Doesn’t matter if they were provoked, doesn’t matter if the offender was trespassing, nothing matters.
So yeah, we get a little pissed off when we hear that not only do our dogs have absolutely no rights as far as defense, but we also can have them shot and killed for NO reason. With NO violence coming from the dog, and the dog most likely doing exactly what it was supposed to do at the time.
Cats are allowed to do whatever they want. Heck, your indoor cat can escape outside and it’s actually allowed to BE there in most states. It’s also allowed to scratch, bite, hiss, and kill wildlife. It’s all “cute.” Dogs? Get loose, wag it’s tail, GET KILLED.
But I guess we’re not supposed to get upset about that.
Agree this sucks. People are suing POlice and winning awards. Some big monies.
A radio show called Ask Sue has TWO radio shows on subject. This is best place to start.
http://www.Blogtalkradio.com/ask-sue/2013/03/22/ask-sue-show-dogs-being-shot-by-police-updates-347-327-9694
If you Google “causes justice for ruby” you’ll see a typical case of a cop shooting a dog for no apparent reason and he wouldn’t explain why he had shot the dog either. This cop should have been prosecuted, but was he? Don’t be silly.
Elisa, I thought this might shed some light on the situation of cops shooting dogs here in the United States, which of course they all use the excuse that they felt their lives were in danger because this comment right there stomps out anything going public most of the time and the departments always back them. This publication I posted below here comes from COPS, they are the ones that make the rules/guidelines police in the US must follow, also they are the ones the provide the funding for any kind of education these police need. ( educating this asshats is not one of them ). In this publication you will see that no cop is to draw a gun on any dog under any circumstances. I can not understand why it is they havent gotten involved.
This is a publication issued by COPS which states right in here that there are to many incidents escalating of police shooting dogs and no police officer is to have gun drawn when responding to any incident involving a dog, or under any circumstances what so ever is a gun to be drawn on any dog, and they are to treat these animals with the same respect that is given to the owners (well we know that doesnt always happen). Trigger happy bastards ! This is the link to the publication. From what I understand these are the people that make the rules and provide the funding for officers of all types all over the united states.
To Elisa: please keep in mind that I am *not* by any means a legal expert! I was merely expressing my layman’s understanding of the intent behind the laws regarding police use of deadly force when confronted by dangerous animals. I may be very much mistaken in some way or another!
Don’t worry Howard. I’m studying legal sources before I write anything. I’m working on a story about that wildlife commission laying traps that are killing dogs and cats as well as predators. Have’t gotten enough of a grasp on that one yet but its important also.