Police officers, animal cruelty and the incident in Green Bay

[Linda and Murphy]

 

Last Friday, 2 New Orleans police officers were charged by the DA with aggravated cruelty to animals and malfeasance in the deaths of their K-9 partners. One dog was left in a vehicle in late May and died of shock from heat stroke (this was very well publicized by the media and there was a trememedous public outcry) and the other fell down an elevator shaft.

 

I have never quite gotten over the incident in Green Bay, Wisconsin where the police officers shot the lost Doodle 3 times. I was horrified, to say the least. Does Green Bay or Wisconsin even have animal cruelty laws?  Hard to imagine that dogs in Louisiana have more rights than dogs in Wisconsin.

 

 

 

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/04/2_new_orleans_cops_char...

 

Two New Orleans police officers were charged by District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro's office Thursday with crimes related to police dogs who died in their care.

 

Officer Jason Lewis was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, while Sgt. Randy Lewis, a former supervisor in the New Orleans Police Department's K-9 unit, was charged with malfeasance in office, according to documents filed at Criminal District Court.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I've never gotten over that incident in Green Bay either. To my knowledge, there were never any consquences to the officers involved.
I don't think the reason for the charges being brought against the New Orleans police officers have anything to do with the rights of dogs in Louisiana. The difference is that these were police dogs, and they cost the police department lots of money:
"The Police Department spends thousands of dollars buying and training such animals."
I think these guys are in trouble because they were responsible for the loss of valuable Police property, which just happened to be dogs in this case; if they'd been responsible for the deaths of somebody's else's dogs, they'd probably be in just as good standing as the guys in Green Bay right now.
I hate to be so cynical, but the law doesn't care much about dogs other than as property.

[Linda and Murphy]

Although I entirely understand these were police dogs, I disagree that was the only reason they were charged The public outcry and media coverage on Primo, the dog left in the vehicle, was tremendous. I can actually be charged here (and have heard of people being charged) if I leave a dog in the car. Anyone living here should know how hot its gets in a vehicle. A police officer assigned to a K-9 unit has NO excuse for leaving a dog in a car, much less his partner.

If you notice, the NOPD did not charge the officers, the District Attorney did. We are hoping the new mayor and the new police chief, along with our new DA, get a better handle on the police department.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm glad to hear that New Orleans takes animal cruelty so seriously. Maybe there is hope after all. :-)

[Linda and Murphy]

Karen, it may be that post-Katrina we have a heightened awareness of our animals and their importance to us. There were so many animals lost.There were also people who refused to evacuate because they couldn't take their animals with them...and they lost their lives. There were people who evacuated and couldn't get back to their animals, trying desparately to get some to get to them.
(You must remember that, prior to Katrina, evacuation meant 2 days max.)

Now, animals are allowed in evacuation shelters. They are allowed on the buses and trains used in evacuations.

[Linda and Murphy]

Karen, please let me know if the Green Bay officers are ever charged with anything or suffer any consequences. I just cannot get past that event.
Perhaps their DA should look into it ;-)

[Sue & Willy Babe]

Hi Wilson and I live in GreenBay and I have not heard a SINGLE THING about the incident

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I never got a response on any plans to protest or issue a public statement from the WI Humane Society, either.

[Linda and Murphy]

Sue, there was no public outcry because of this event? Media coverage? Sorry, this incident really gets to me.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I've been searching the internet, and there is no mention of any consequences or anything at all since the article first ran. No public outcry, nothing.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Clearly, the dog left in the car was negligent and resulted in the dog's death. But what was he elevator shaft story?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

From the link above:
A dog named Phantom died after plunging down an elevator shaft during a training exercise at the Charity Hospital building, while another dog, Carlos, died from heartworms, Goyeneche said in his letter to the DA's office.

The NOPD is not investigating the death of Carlos, who was 14 and died of a heart attack, Young said. But Public Integrity investigators are looking into the circumstances around the elevator-shaft death, he said.

During the search training exercise, the dog was able to squeeze through a small opening in an elevator door. Phantom was on a long leash, held by a handler, but the K-9 officers were not able to save him after he dropped into the shaft, Young said. The ring that held the leash to the dog's collar snapped, allowing the dog to fall, he said.

[Linda and Murphy]

All I know about that story is in the article. It was covered up and the press never got wind of it. The officer was in Charity Hospital and the dog somehow crawled into a small space that was an elevator shaft and fell. The story was he was on a long leash and the leash "failed". Who knows what really happened.