I agree, Jack, I immediately thought the same thing while I was reading the articles. Hopefully, the fact that my dogs are ALWAYS enclosed or restrained responsibly would save them from such ignorance and useless force -- but the second article also mentioned officers shooting dogs that were kenneled or tethered, obviously posing no threat.

In the case of the ACD that was shot, where the officer ordered the man to put his hands up and restrain his dog at the same time, there is an audio tape of the incident. It's sickening to listen to. The officer shows up, at the wrong address, and immediately draws a gun on the man in the middle of the day, when he was posing no threat and hadn't shown any resistance to questioning. He literally shot the dog three seconds after first seeing him. He didn't assess the situation, didn't give the owner a chance to restrain his dog or say anything about it whatsoever. He pulled the trigger as soon as he got spooked. Then, to add insult to injury, when the man moved to go to his DYING companion, the officer further lost his cool, and yelled for him to keep his hands in the air, stay where he was, DON'T MOVE. While the man was pleading for the officer to let him take his dog to the vet.

These are sub-level human beings, not mentally capable of handling a slightly stressful situation OR giving compassion when they've wreaked unnecessary and irreparable damage. They're like power hungry toddlers with hand guns. A very precarious situation for us every day civilians.