Leo and Titan are a couple of hybrid dogs: Pitbull/bulldog-mix. They are described as:
“Big babies.”
That comment by the owners (the Lutters) is to be expected by the way. We see this sort of statement all the time from owners of aggressive dogs but I am not saying that these dogs are inherently aggressive.
The dogs live with a family in Port St. John, Florida, USA (half way down Florida on the Atlantic coast). They escaped their home and went wandering down the street. It is said that this has happened before.
A report came in to the Sheriff’s Office that the dogs were attacking a cat. It is not clear if the cat was feral or owned (domestic).
The Sheriff’s department said that they tried to get the dogs to release the cat without success and so decided to shoot them. In their defence they say that the dogs are a problem in the neighbourhood and were and are a threat to children.
Residents said that the dogs had attacked cats before but the dogs’ owner denied this. They say that there is a prejudice against Pitbull-type dogs and they are stigmatised with a violent image.
They say that Leo and Titan are like babies and that the cops should not have shot them. They make a good point: not all dogs are the same and you can’t brand all Pitbulls as aggressive.
The dogs were not killed (to the best of my knowledge as this is not reported). The photo on this page appears to have been taken after they had been shot and treated as you can see a bullet wound. The incident is being investigated by Animal Services.
What’s your view on this? Should the police have found a less violent way of dealing with the matter? It seems to me that police can sometimes reach for the gun too readily as a solution but it can cause more problems. There must be a better, less violent and potentially terminal way of dealing with this sort of incident.
P.S. The report does not tell us what happened to the cat. I’d like to know.
Here is a video on the story – expect it to disappear at some time in the future! Sorry.
Report: fox35orlando.com.
