This is so sad. Thank you for the Chief's info. There needs to be training in police departments all over. There's been too many stories this year of animals being killed by police or not given a second thought by police, incidences that should have never happend. The couple in Houston who's home was mistakenly raided and their dog was shot and killed. The family driving home from vacation mistaken for a robbery suspect, their dog shot and killed in front of them and their little boy...after begging the cops to let them shut the car door so the dog wouldn't get out. And I could go on and on. This is too common an occurance. There needs to be better policies. I'll write the Chief today.

This kind of story makes me sick to my stomach. The police are supposed to serve and protect - they should not be allowed to be the cause of an animal's death in their zeal to write tickets. That is not protection. What happened to compassion? And what is this teaching our children? I'm disgusted.

Unbelievable!! Totally unbelievable! I am so sorry that little Missy passed away due to the meaness of a human being - or the sad excuse for a human being!! Whatever happened to compassion?? What ever happened to value of life - whether the life be two legged or four legged! I hope the officer has no four legged family members - because you can sure tell by his uncaring comment about Missy that they probably arent consided family members! And I highly doubt they would be taken care of should they ever have a medical emergency - because he "can just go get another one"!

I'll NEVER DONATE a SINGLE PENNEY when they call me on the phone to make a donation for the PD!

I could be able to read from another website that the cops in other countries are far more efficient than in the United States, then the cops in America complain why they don’t get pay better, for the service they give, they don’t diserve more than a penny an hour. What this cop diserve is being FIRED, being SUE and loose the priviledge to serve the community for endangerment and cruelty to an animal.
The dog die, hey! How THEY say to the community “You do the crime, you do the time!” That is EXACTLY what this cop should be doing JAIL TIME! And please…. do not feed him doughnouts, he don’t diserve it! But getting serious, from time to time the police department call my house to ask for MONEY donation, because of this I WILL NEVER DONATE A SINGLE PENNEY TO THE POLICE DEPARTMENT WHEN THEY CALL, NEVER! In name of this dog who died….

I'll NEVER DONATE a SINGLE PENNEY when they call me on the phone to make a donation for the PD!

I can see from one of the readings that the cops in other countries are far more efficient than in the United States, then the cops in America complain why they don’t get pay better, for the service they give, they don’t diserve more than a penny an hour. What this cop diserve is being FIRED, being SUE and loose the priviledge to serve the community for endangerment and cruelty to an animal.
The dog die, hey! How THEY say to the community “You do the crime, you do the time!” That is EXACTLY what this cop should be doing JAIL TIME! And please…. do not feed him doughnouts, he don’t diserve it! But getting serious, from time to time the police department call my house to ask for MONEY donation, because of this I WILL NEVER DONATE A SINGLE PENNEY TO THE POLICE DEPARTMENT WHEN THEY CALL, NEVER! In name of this dog who died….

ANALYZE THIS!

In America, to become a police officer you don’t need more than just a HIGH SCHOOL diploma as a minimun requirement.
Think about the next time you are driving somewhere and you see a cop driving around in his “police car” he/she does NOT have any more education than just another high school kid.
I have more education than a cop that is why I hold a bachelor degree from an accredit university.
The police academy DOES NOT equalize the education that you can obtain at an accredited university, therefore their judgements are to be POOR, because their education is just as POOR. All they are tought at the police academy is FORCE and most than anything physical training, what good can come out of that and IF they are fitted folks with a discent sense of judgement, maybe, “WE” the community can be a little bit more lucky when we are stopped by one of this LOW CLASS, LOW PAY and LOW EDUCATED police officers.
The age and education requirement to enter the police academy are VERY LOW!
A twenty one year officer cannot make as good judgement as a person who is full grown, mature and EDUCATED and this is why there are broken homes and destroyed families in this country.
The low judgment that this cop portrayed toward this couple does not suprise me in any way, shape or form, because how much can he acquired from the police academy and how much was he been asked to know BEFORE he entered the police academy? It is not more than just another high school grad.
As long as they don’t raise the minimun pre-requirements and post-requirements there will always be cops like the one who denied help to that innocent’s dog life and another citizen who suffer the consequences.

Absolutely unbelievable!!

I’m sure that if Officer Dim Wit has animals, he does not consider them to be pets; much less a part of the family.

One can only hope that if he has children, he treats them better…can’t just go out and get another one…

I have to add a little something to my earlier post. As with anything, there are good and bad. I do not condemn all police because of the idiocy of others. Just as I don't judge others because of a few. I know several police officers who are wonderful family men and consider their pets their family. I had an incident when some children tried to set my Ragdoll Siamese on fire with a sparkler (thank God he was ok!). The policeman who responded said he had 2 German Shepherds who were his children. Let me tell you, he worked harder on that case than another cop did when my truck was broken into. As angry as I am about this incident and others that I mentioned above, there are still good cops who do care and who don't deserve to be condemned. They put their life on the line every day to protect and serve. BUT there still needs to be better policies and procedures for police in situations that involve animals. [Oh and all of the cops I know have degrees from major colleges (Texas A&M, UT, TX Tech, UH, etc.), a couple of them even have their masters degrees.] But I do agree that a young cop of 21 isn't going to have enough life experience to be able to make the right decision in a lot of instances. And Donna, I SO agree with you! What has happend to compassion?

I need to add something to my post - I failed to mention that my prayers were going out to cute little Missy (her picture was in the newspaper this morning) and to her family! I know they are missing her and wishing the outcome would have been different! But Missy is now at Rainbow Bridge and she will be waiting for you when your time to pass comes! You will greet each other and continue on together!!

I can't believe what Tenneessee said Just because you are educated , gives you the right to say someone at 22 and is a HS grad cannot have compassion ? You need to spend time with some of our troops , the love and compassion they hold for life . You and your elitest attitude ( I'm educated therefore I am supreme )
Your name Obama ?

Tennessee, for an educated person from an "accredit" university, I say you need to go back to that school and demand a refund. The word is "minimum" not "minimun." I swear, these days all you have to do to graduate from college is show up to class. They'll graduate anyone as long as you pay.

Education has nothing to do with some cop on some ego/power trip. This police officer was just down right evil and stopped these people because he could. That has nothing to do with education.

That officer did the right thing in getting the vehicle stopped. There was no way of knowing what was going wrong in that vehicle until a face to face encounter was made with the driver.

Obviously the driver should not have been driving that night. He was traveling at an extremely high rate of speed (over one hundred miles an hour) in an overly emotional state of mind, putting human lives in danger. Was the officer excited? Yes. Was his pulse racing? Yes. Did he have a felony stop to contend with? Yes. Was this a dangerous situation? Yes. Did the officer do the right thing by getting the vehicle stopped? Yes. Should driver have been arrested? Maybe, now that the circumstances of the stop are understood. The dog did not rate the same amount of care a child or any other human being should have received in the same predicament.

Was the officer insensitive? Yes. Maybe after finding out the animal in the vehicle was dieing he should have let the guy go. But that wouldn’t change the fact that in the driver’s mind there was still an actual emergency, and he still would have had the opportunity to continue to place other driver’s lives in danger, and still could have killed someone. And to make matters worse, if the officer would have let this driver leave the scene in his emotional state, and a collision with another vehicle had occurred people would be screaming the officer needed to have kept the man from driving and that he should loose his job for poor judgment.

At this point to has not been made clear as to why the dog was choking or if the immediate intervention from a vet could have or would have allowed the animal to live. In any case the animal can be replaced by another fluffy, and they can go one with their life.

I applaud this officer for doing the right thing in the midst of an emotional situation that could have gotten much further out of control. The end result of this officer’s intervention is clear. 1 dog dead, 0 people dead, and the driver was not arrested for felony evading arrest. Sounds like a pretty good outcome to me.

they just had this story on CNN. it was all captured on a dash cam. the driver was driving between 100-120 mph in and weaving in and out of heavy traffic, yes it is very sad the dog died, but better an animal then some poor kind who gets killed from his wreckless driving

first of all the guy was traveling OVER 100 mph when he was pulled over, let it be his dog over someones poor kid that CANNOT be replaced

The video makes me completely ill! How upset and helpless those people must of felt while their dog, a beloved family member, lay dieing in the front seat. That makes me sick how cocky and ignorant that cop was acting! All police forces need a 101 on dealing with dogs and animals, there are SO many cases where dogs with a wagging tail are shot to death because a trigger happy cop decides to shoot it, instead of reading the animals body language! Just another reason to add to my list of why I don't trust cops...And I've never been in jail, or convicted of anything, I have a clean record!

The entire situation was handled wrong by both sides. The driver should have never been driving that fast and that reckless, emergency or not. The FIRST thing a first responder should do is to assess the situation. The officer should then have realized it was an emergency and escorted the the driver to the vet. Once at the vet, the ticket could then be written.

Where do you draw the line? If a police dog is killed, you can bet that person will go to jail.

To Douglas who said "In any case the animal can be replaced by another fluffy, and they can go one with their life." - its apparent where your four legged family members stand! Actually I hope you dont have any four legged family members - but then again I guess you wouldnt consider them family! I am not saying the driver should have been driving as recklessly as he was - even a person with a sick / dying child should not be driving so recklessly and putting other lives in danger - or even their own lives should there be an accident. But to so callously think and then state that a four legged family member can be replaced so easily - and that then everyone can get on with their lives - that is uncaring and unforgivable! And certainly makes it sound like little Missy's life was worth nothing! When any of my four legged family members have passed I have been devastated! To some people who have been unable to have children (like me) - their pets are their family! I would do for any of my pets the same as I would do for a child - and your remark greatly offends me as I am sure it offended many others!

I find this story to be one of the worst when it comes to serving the public and just being a decent person. Pets are part of the family. My dogs mean the world to me. This is just a power-hungry cop that has decided that this pet and the importance to the owners is not worth considering. It is absolutely deplorable!! Who does he think he is? I would have kept going and he could've followed me to the clinic.

Absolutely no doubt about it...he should have been fired. Police are here to serve and protect us, not hurt us. He was TRYING to hurt them.

You know whats funny that michael vick may spend the next 10 years in prison for dog fighting but a cop lets a dog die and people come on here and say he was doing his job. When a cop shoots a dog they get a slap on the wrist if that... Dogs arent JUST animals they protect families, help the blind, assist the police and military. What other ANIMAL does that?

Evidentally this officer has no love for animals. You can tell by watching the video this man was desperate to save his dogs life and the officer seemed to be very heartless. The officer should have offered more help such as escorting him to the vet. Perhaps the officer will think about the sweet poodle while he is choking to death one day.