NYPD shoot dog while the owner has a seizure

I called up a friend of mine, who's a firefighter/EMT, and told him about the story. He said that cops don't go through mandatory first aid at all. Though many officers choose to on their own. However most of the police departments he knows of have policies in place that prevent officers giving any form of medical aid. Apparently there has been too many cases where dumbass cops who didn't know what they were doing, gave medical aid and fucked up their "patients" worse than they were before. It became a liability issue. So the cops only objective is to secure the scene for the EMT.

He's even said that he's had to sit in the fire truck and watch a house burn because the cops couldn't settle down the people fighting outside of it. A fucked up rule that's supposed to be in the interest of the workers on the scene, but gets in their way of trying to do their job.

Since the EMT wasn't on the scene to help the guy, the cops should have kept their distance, and thier first option would be one of those poles with the loop to safely subdue the dog. If they couldn't get ahold of one by the time the ambulance got there, then that's when they should have resorted to other measures. In New York city it would seem like a K-9 unit would be nearby with the ability to subdue the dog. Or something. I've been attacked by bigger, and stronger dogs than this, and have always been able to take control of the situation by hand. Although I can understand shooting a dog out of fear as he/she rushes at you teeth snaring, measures could have been easily taken to avoid any harm.

 

They used a pole with the choke collar on this dog towards the end of the video... Long after the dog had been shot. Probably a cover-up so it looked like they did it by the book. Which the video, now missing, showed was not the way it really went down.

As far as the guy with the seizure goes, he and his dog were known in the area as very nice. The cops were supposed to know before hand that this was an epileptic seizure, as the guy had them regularly, (He's homeless and should be on meds he can't afford) and the person that called 911 told them this. From what I read the cops started kicking the guy as soon as they got there. After all he's just a "homeless drunk/drug addict laying in the street". When the dog protected it's owner the cops pepper sprayed it, which would anger the dog more. So they then shot the dog.

This whole thing was handled wrong and the cops started the problem.

 

I don't know about this. I only skimmed through the video, but I don't remember the guy reacting at all when the cop shot his dog. Was the guy severely intoxicated? Even if he was it would seem to me he would make some sort of reaction to a gun shot fired within a few feet of his head. He was either siezing or blacked out unconscious. Some seizures aren't easily identifiable. It can look like they are just staring into space.

I haven't read the article, or any for that matter. The only info I'm going on is what's in this thread, and what my friend told me.

 

The video is still available on this page...

http://gothamist.com/2012/08/14/graphic_video_dog_shot_in_east_vill.php


At least for now.

 

The guy was an epileptic and had a grand mal seizure and the police were informed of this.

 

well, in this version of the video no one was kicking the guy. the cop was standing about 8 feet away, and the dog suddenly attacked a bystander and then started sprinting at the cop. no, he didn't really need to shoot it, but he did only have a split second to react, not exactly time to weigh his options. shitty situation, but unless there was something i missed before the video started, i can't judge him too harshly.

it was more off-putting seeing the police screaming at the spectators after the fact.

 

^^he should be prepared for the dog to do something, and have made a decision on what to do IF something happened. oh yeah, he did. it was to shoot the dog.


Letlovintakehold, i'm not sure how your post is in contrast to mine.
i said that the guy was just laying there...i mean that he was physically laid on the ground. yes, he looked unconscious

 

The video starts after the pepper spay the dog kick the guy stuff happened. Nobody was recording the second the cops showed up.

 

yeah, that's unfortunate, since the various reports can't make up their mind about what the hell happened there. they were kicking the guy, they weren't kicking the guy, they pepper sprayed the dog before shooting him, they didn't pepper spray the dog until after it was shot, they never pepper sprayed the dog, the dog was named star, the dog was named lucky.

 

I'll watch the video if my night starts going too well, or something....

USA, USA, USA.....

 

According to a report 10 hours ago Star is very much alive!!!!!!!!!

 

Thanks etherea. That made my day. :2thumbsup: Thanks for keeping us updated.

 

Glad they were able to save her... Hope the guy is okay too

 

Me too. I wonder if he has been able to see his dog yet.

 

So why was the police called and not an ambulance or something?

 

PorkStock: my point was that the guy could have been having a siezure the entire duration of the video.

Asmodean: all emergency calls are placed through the same number. The cops will usually get there much faster than the ambulance, and it's their job to secure the scene so the EMT can do their job safely.

I think the cops get their so much faster, because they are on patrol. Whereas EMT are parked at the station waiting for something to happen.

 

he seemed quite still during the video to me. i don't know much about seizures, but i thought they involved shaking of the body

 

This is so sad. Of course the dog lashed out! Not only was its owner having a seizure and being kicked on the ground but there were crowds of people getting too close. The poor thing would have been shit scared and ready to do anything to protect his owner. Shooting the dog should be reviewed under animal cruelty or something!

Glad star is okay! Hopefully the guy is too, he has a very brave dog.

 

does anyone else see the problem with a homeless guy owning an unleashed dog in downtown NYC?

 

Yeah, he shouldn't have been homeless in the first place.