Tag: gwinnett
Nearly 100 dogs shot in the last two years by police officers in metro Atlanta area
Channel 2 Action News took a look at how often police officers in the Atlanta metropolitan area shot dogs in the course of their duties, and counted nearly 100 cases in the past two years.
Individual department records show sthat, since 2010, dogs were shot 25 times in Atlanta, 32 times in DeKalb county, 19 times in Gwinnett County, 10 times in Clayton County and eight times in Cobb County, including the most recent shooting this past September.
In that case, Cobb County officers responding to an alarm call shot and killed Luke, a chocolate lab when he ran out of the home barking.
In that case — in fact, in each of the more than 100 cases — the officer or officers were cleared of any wrongdoing.
“There isn’t an officer out there I know that wants to shoot a dog, any animal!” said Kliff Grimes a national representative for the International Brotherhood of Police Officers. Officers often only have a “split-second” to make the decision to fire their guns, he added.
Channel 2 found only one metro area department, Cobb County, that requires officers to have specific training on how to respond to dogs, and that just started this year.
“With training there would be some accountability,” said Elizabeth Cullifer, whose dog Basil was shot two years ago. “There is no accountability in the situation with us. It was like he felt threatened, he shot your dog. That’s it,” she said.
Cullifer had left the fmaily’s 45-pound dog outside when marshals arrived to serve papers in a civil lawsuit. Cullifer heard gunshots and found Basil dead. The papers were for someone who had not lived there in eight years.
Posted by jwoestendiek November 1st, 2012 under Muttsblog.
Tags: animals, area, atlanta, clayton, cobb, counties, county, dekalb, dog, dogs, fulton, gwinnett, law enforcement, metro, metropolitian, officers, pets, police, shootings, shot
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DeCarlo (and his beagles) avoid the slammer
Randy DeCarlo, the Georgia man who faced up to $24,000 in fines and 12 years in prison for his noisy beagles, was sentenced to two years probation — and he gets to keep his dogs.
Atlanta Journal Constitution reporter Andria Simmons began her story in yesterday’s paper this way: “Howl-elujiah. All 25 beagles and basset hounds belonging to Randy DeCarlo would have joined in that chorus Friday, had they understood a judge’s ruling allowing them to stay put in their home.”
DeCarlo runs a state-licensed foster home for unwanted or abused basset hounds and beagles at his home in Gwinnett County.
The County Solicitor’s Office had asked that DeCarlo be limited to 15 dogs at his home, but Judge Patricia Muise ruled that DeCarlo can keep the dogs as long as he finds a way to limit their barking within 45 days.
The judge also gave DeCarlo an out, saying he would not have to serve the probation sentence if he moves out of the county. She cautioned DeCarlo that he could go to jail if future complaints are filed about the barking.
“I’m glad as long as they’re safe,” DeCarlo said.
Several neighbors testified that the hounds commonly bark for 15 to 45 minutes at a stretch, and one testified she’d been getting nasty emails since her involvement in the case became known. ”I kept getting emails from people telling me they wanted me to be put down,” Porter said.
About half a dozen animal activists attended the hearing in support of DeCarlo. They said there is a fear among their community that owners of numerous dogs could be forced out of the county with the threat of similar citations.
(Photo by George Chidi, courtesy of Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Posted by jwoestendiek August 30th, 2008 under Muttsblog.
Tags: barking, basset hounds, beagles, citations, decarlo, foster, georgia, gwinnett, neighbors, noise, prison, probation, randy, rescue, sentence, shelter
Comments: 5