our famiy dog was shot at in front of my 4 year old.

[stacie]

our dogs ( a puppy and a boxer) were found running at large and have been in trouble before. The police were called and reported to proceed on my property where the dogs were running back and forth, The officers split up the boxer was in our yard as the officer came close to him he :might: have jumped on him and the officer fired his gun not knowing my 4 year old daughter was near the dog!!! he claimed a dog bite yet I saw no rip in his uniform or skin injury, My daughter can not sleep is scared and all i can imagine is the worst thing in the world. I did not think we had to worry about gun fire in our own back yard in montville with our children there!!! Our dogs are in custody and we will fight to get them back. PLease help!!

[Tina]

Sorry to hear of your story and glad that everyone is ok. I thought that police officers were trained to restrain the dog before shooting. THis is a sad story and the fact that this officer shot with your daugther near by is SHAMEFUL> Good luck getting them back and spread the word about these terrible officers..

[Amanda]

I know both of these dogs (Tusk and Oreo) and they are as sweet as could be. They would never hurt anyone. To shoot at a dog is idiotic, especially without assessing the situation and realizing a child was near by! This office needs to learn how to control himself and not be trigger happy! Thank God everyone was OK. This family desires to have their dogs returned to them and to get a sincere apology from this office who clearly did not think before he acted.

[Michelle C]

this is horible!! how could someone who is trained for many situations do soemthing like this,esp in front of a child? Maybe this police district needs to take a step back and figure out a better way to handle this. Now this little girl mihgt look at police officers differently. What a shame!
Thank God she wasnt hurt. Good luck on gettingyour dogs back....that may make the girl happy....

[Stephanie]

That is crazy!! Why would the police do that? How is that helpful? Good luck with everything...I'm so sorry to hear that this happened to you and your family!!!!

[Heather]

This is absolutely outrageous and I hope that officer gets fired. What kind of officer fires a gun right next to a toddler?? What if his bullet hit her?

[Chrissy]

The dogs were on YOUR property and the officers had no right to fire. They should have checked to make sure no one, espically a child was in the vinicity before taking action. Dogs are animals and tend to get in trouble from time to time. Boxers are NOT mean dogs by anymeans...This was totally unnessary!!!! Giver her dogs back!!!!

[Elissa Pine Brook]

This is terrible! I am so sorry to hear this, what a shame! Thank god your daughter is alive & I hope she gets over this terrible memory. I don't know whey your dogs were taken, they are the sweetest dogs!!!

[Desiree Class Nurse]

I am shocked and very disappointed to hears that this has happened to a an any animal yet alone in front of a child. I have been around this dog as well as my children for over 2 years and the puppy and the other dog have never threatened me or my two young children. The dog is very playful and loving, and would trust him with our children and others. Where do these officers think they are this is Montville not Compton.

[Diana Shea]

This is a shameless act of stupidity by the officer. His badge should be revoked for firing in the vicinity of a child. In no way were the children put in harms way by the animals, only by the police officer. The situation was handled extremely unprofessionally, and now as a result these poor children are suffering due to the uncalled for actions of the police officer. My heart goes out to those poor children, the officer should be ashamed of his actions, and disarmed before he puts another innocent life in jeopardy!

[Erika from MA]

Outrageous! I can't even believe it's legal for them to come on your property like that. You say there was no evidence of a bite and even If the dog had bitten him and it happened on your property then sad but oh-well, he should've have been there uninvited. As for your daughter, it is terrible that your baby girl is losing sleep and afraid because of stupidity on the officer's part. You should call the news and tell them what happened and let your daughter tell the news how scared they've made her. Good Luck!

[Kelly H from NY]

What a form of reckless endangerment by the police officer. The dogs were on YOUR property, and to fire a weapon without knowing your surrounding...aka a toddler in the vincity is a crime in it self. Dogs get loose on occassion, so give her a ticket but don't take her dogs away. This family has suffered enough emotional upset, that poor little give will never look at policemen without reliving that moment. Give her dogs back!!!!

[ellen rockaway nj]

For a policeman to go on someone's property and shoot at a dog is very disturbing. Something is amiss and an investigation needs to be made so this will never happen again. The neighbors who called the police department knew who owned the dogs and the dogs were on the owners property. Why didn't the police first contact the owners before trespassing on their property. New procedures need to be taken when dealing with situations like this. Praise God the child's angels were watching over her.

[jessica]

i find this to be very disturbing! these 2 dogs are family pets! dogs that sleep with the kids at night, not loose bears in the backyard! why are these dogs being held like "prisoners"? dogs will be dogs, getting loose sometimes but to draw a gun and fire it at the family dog in front of a 4 year old is something so crazy that now the poor children are having nightmares about their family dog! these children will remember this for a loooong time! and lets not forget about the dogs who are in a tiny cage for the past few days now! are they being taken care of properly? probably not! this family needs news 4 on their side!

[Holly]

Since when is a dog running around in a yard a crime! I have a neighbor whose two dogs are CONSTANTLY on my property. We lead them back home and that is that. The level of stupidity on the part of the police officer is astounding. Maybe he should have just asked someone to open the front door to the house. The dogs would have probably have run inside. Just plain dumb. Good luck with getting the dogs back. So glad your daughter wasn't hurt. That would have been unspeakable.

[Tina NY]

This is a sad day when a trained Officer feels that shooting at a dog in front of a child is justified! First, The officer should of assessed the situation, if in fact the officer was bit as he claimed, why has he not produced a medical report from a Liscensed Doctor, as that is standard proceedure when bitten by a strange dog. Without medical documentation these dogs are being held for no reason at all..........they should immediately be returned to the owners. The officer also should be under investigation for firing a weapon on the home owners property without justification. Any animal officer knows that with two dogs, they will play and get excited.

[Lauren Handler- NC]

It sounds as if an officer was not properly trained on how to handle this situation and your family is the one taking the fall! Shooting at a dog on your own property is outrageous but not securing the area to make sure no people were around is down right scary! You should take legal action to get back your dogs and press charges against the officer. If you do not, you are setting a precedent and this officer could wind up in another backyard but this time a child might not be so lucky!

[Diane]

Definitely a form of reckless endangerment by the police officer! The dogs were on your property! There are criminals out there AND that is what they should be looking for, NOT pulling a gun on a dog ESPECIALLY with a child close by!

Get a petition going for ALL to sign to get your dogs back! AND SUE to Montville police department for reckless endangerment!

FREE THE DOGS! 8O)

[Roni]

Just nuts...what officer would shoot with a child near? Should he have a badge? Makes you wonder about your local polcie! Good luck with all of this and so sorry you are going thru this with your family. Hope your daughter will be ok!

[Sue Martins Creek PA]

This is totally crazy......Hope Paige is doing better and you have your pups home. Your dogs put under arest and the officer still allowed to carry a gun after shooting it with no knowledge of a child's presence.....CRAZY!