Out-of-Control Cops Arrest Man On Flimsy Charges And Shoot His Dog To Death In Front Him

Out-of-Control Cops Arrest Man On Flimsy Charges And Shoot His Dog To Death In Front Him

This is just absolutely horrific. Horrific.

cops murder dog

A video posted yesterday on YouTube shows the grisly shooting of a dog by a police officer in Hawthorne, California.

The 130-pound, 3-year-old Rottweiler named Max was shot to death after he escaped through a window in a parked car and ran over to his master, Leon Rosby, who was being arrested for filming the scene on his phone.

The video (watch original on YouTube) shows Rosby, 52, walking his dog Sunday around 7 p.m. near a house with several police squad cars parked outside.

He is seen filming the scene in order ‘to make sure nobody’s civil rights were being violated,’ he told DailyBreeze.com.

Rosby is then seen talking to a pair of police officers in the distance.

Hawthorne Police Lt Scott Swain said that officers were warning Rosby to turn down the music in his car.

‘It’s distracting the officers. It’s interfering with what they are able to hear,’ Lt Swain said. ‘It’s not just a party call. It’s an armed robbery call. The officers need to hear what’s going on with the people being called out of the residence. That music in his car is bleeding over and it’s distracting them.’

Eventually the two officers start walking towards Rosby, who puts Max into his car where the windows are rolled down. Rosby seems to calmly walk over to the officers and turn around, volunteering himself for arrest.

As the officers put handcuffs on Rosby, the dog starts barking and manages to jump out of the car. Another police officer comes over and looks like he’s trying to grab the leash when the dog jumps up and the officer shoots him several times.

…Lt Swain, however, alleges that the officers were also looking out for Rosby.

‘I know it’s the dog’s master, and more than likely not going to attack him, (but) we’ve got a guy handcuffed that’s kind of defenseless. We have a duty to defend him too,’ Swain said.
Rosby was held overnight in jail on suspicion of obstruction of justice and released at 5 AM the next day.

Was the guy with the dog being an ass? That’s indeterminate. There’s nothing wrong with filming the police and judging by the video, the music he was playing didn’t seem loud enough to be causing a problem for the police. Moreover, their “It’s dangerous because it’s an armed robbery call” excuse is obvious BS because if they’re going to take the time to arrest a guy for playing his music too loud, they’re not terribly concerned about their safety.

So, maybe they didn’t like the guy filming them, maybe they didn’t like his attitude — and they decided to arrest the guy. That’s a VERY debatable judgment call, but whatever.

However, there’s no judgment call when it comes to the dog.


(This video is DISTURBING. Don’t say you weren’t warned.)

The idea that the dog’s owner was in danger is ludicrous. Given the situation, they probably should have taken the handcuffs off the man, who was not resisting them and let him secure his dog. Alternately, one of the officers who was competent around animals could have tried it himself. Instead, the officer, who was probably frightened of dogs, shot the animal to death.

That goes beyond inexcusable, all the way to criminal. Even if Rosby deserved to be arrested, which again, is debatable, the penalty for playing your music too loud isn’t having your dog shot to death.

Not only should Rosby WIN a civil case against the department, but the officer who shot the dog should be fired AND PROSECUTED for animal cruelty. There is absolutely nothing that undermines respect for the law faster than irresponsible cops being given a pass for their bad behavior.

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