Dec 05, 2012 Chicago police shoot pit bull sicced on them by thieves

Chicago - One of the six people who robbed a pizza delivery driver released a pit bull to attack pursuing Chicago police.  Officers shot the pit bull twice, but it survived.  Police caught all six robbers and no one was hurt.

This occurred just a few days after the Seattle Times published a story about a new study by the NCRC, a pit bull advocacy group, that laments the number of dogs shot by police as largely avoidable if only police understood dog body language.  Why is a pit bull advocacy group leading the charge?  Statistics of police shootings of dogs from a couple of Illinois cities might make that clear:

Between 2008 and July 2012 Elgin police were forced to shoot 23 dogs, 20 of which were pit bulls.
In the same time period Aurora police shot 8 dogs, 5 or 6 of which were pit bulls.
Illinois Pit Bull Attacks has found 78 accounts of pit bulls being shot.  Roughly 76 were shot by police.

Now it becomes clear why the NCRC has published this study - because the vast majority of dogs shot by police are pit bulls.

The Seattle Times article leads with this statement:

There has never been a documented case of a dog killing a police officer.

I'm just spit balling here, but that might be because police officers are armed and are willing and able to fire on dogs to protect themselves when they are threatened.

There certainly are cops who wrongly shoot pets. Officers need education and discipline to avoid that.  However, very few of the 76 or so police shootings of pit bulls that have been reported in this blog suggest that the officer was unjustified.  Often, pit bulls can only be stopped from attacking by shooting them.

But, if cops seem more willing to shoot all kinds of dogs since pit bulls have come on the scene and more and more cops are witnessing pit bull attacks believing they are typical of all dog bites, well, then that is simply yet another way that selfish pit bull owners are hurting us and our normal dogs by bringing their fighting dogs into our communities.

The only way to make sure fewer pit bulls are shot is to make sure there are fewer pit bulls.

Pit bull owners, it might be noted, give their blessings to cops who shoot their pit bulls when the pit bulls are attacking them, the owner.

Read more:
CBS local
Chicago Tribune
Police One

Related posts:
Sep 13, 2012 Berwyn pit bulls attack woman, police officer and kill small dog
Aug 06, 2012 Police: South Elgin officer kills pit bull attacking family
It is Time, Elgin
Apr 12, 2012 Cook County Cop Details Off Property, Unprovoked, Serial Attack to Defend Pit Bulls
Jun 29, 2011 Victim Of Dog Attack Speaks Out
Nov 25, 2010 Rockford alderman, daughter bitten in pit bull attack
Aug 07 2010 Pit Bulls Attack 5 Year Old Boy