Louisiana Police Officer Under Fire For Shooting Dog

While the investigation into this matter continues, the main fiber of the age old dilemma continues for me.

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Who in the world would want to be a police officer in the world we live in today? It would appear that everyone can do their job better than them.(Until those people do their job)

One might think that college football coaches are the most often second-guessed concerning their actions or decisions, but imagine being a police officer in today's society. Their every move is not only filmed and critiqued by their superiors, the public often fries them for what they deem inappropriate actions.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying what this officer did was right...or wrong. I honestly have no idea. I just hate the fact that when an officer is involved in protecting the public's safety, his every move is called into question.

Case and point. Taking to Facebook this week, the Thibodaux Police Department has made an attempt to inform the public of a situation after one of their officers has come under fire for fatally shooting a loose dog on Christmas Day.

According to Thibodaux Chief of Police Bryan Zeringue, Christmas morning after an officer and a number of patrons, motorists and the owner of a dog had unsuccessfully attempted to corral a loose dog that was running in and out of traffic, the dog attacked the officer, biting him on the backside of his body.

The report explains that the dog continued running wild toward other patrons. As the dog appeared to charge at another bystander, the officer was forced to discharge one gun shot striking the dog, ultimately causing the dog to succumb from the injury.

This incident remains under investigation and the officer was taken to a nearby medical facility to be treated for his injuries.

In a follow up report from the Louisiana Radio Network, we read that:

Jeff Dorson with the Humane Society of Louisiana said it’s an unfortunate incident that could have been avoided if more law enforcement officers were properly trained.

“We have to ask ourselves how come animal control officers and humane societies aren’t ever on the front page for shooting animals? Why, because we have a little bit of common sense and training,” said Dorson.

Dorson also holds the dog's owner responsible for the unfortunate outcome of the situation stating, “Owners please keep your dogs confined. It’s the law and you will avoid these kinds of problems.”

But it's his second-guessing of the officer's actions that have me scratching my head.  He said, “I think if I was that cop and I felt threatened and didn’t know what to do I would have stayed in my patrol car and asked for back-up. Ask for animal control, that has catch-pulls and heavy gloves and they’re used to this.”

Until you actually find yourself in that situation, at that time, how do you know how you'd handle it?  What if the dog had attacked and killed a child on the scene?  Would the public be outraged that the officer hadn't acted quickly enough?

The old saying proves true, "Damned if you do. Damned if you don't."