From the Asheville Citizen-Times:
A Durham man claims a Buncombe County sheriff’s deputy used excessive force when the off-duty officer shot and killed his dog at Catawba Falls in McDowell County.
Deputy Jason Honeycutt has not been charged in the Feb. 10 incident and was not disciplined by his employer. The McDowell County Sheriff’s Office has investigated the case, and the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office conducted an internal investigation.
“We don’t have any issue with what our officer did,” Lt. Randy Sorrells said. “He was protecting his children.”
The owner of the dog, Scott Shulman, said it was unnecessary to shoot his 45-pound border collie mix. Nellie wouldn’t have harmed Honeycutt or his young children, Shulman said.
It’s really simple to keep something like this happening again: keep your dogs on a leash. There are signs @ every lot telling dog owners to do this, why is that so hard? Never assume that other people are as crazy about your pets ( or kids) as you are.
If the cop is frightened for his, and/or childrens’, life (which is the only excuse for discharging a firearm) by a border collie, I would seriously question his ability to provide protection for the citizen’s of his area when he’s on duty.
Good Lord, my Jack Russell would make him wet his pants. They’ve really got some Barney Fife’s over there in McDowell County.
What?! Stephen, are you actually trying to justify this idiot shooting the dog? Leash or no leash, using the gun was uncalled for. Deputy Honeycutt’s woefully poor judgment bears closer scrutiny.
It’s really simple to keep something like this from happening again: keep your guns locked at home!
I am sure this guy’s children are far more traumatized by watching their father shoot a dog to death than having it bark at them, or even nip at them. You would think that a police officer would be strong enough and brave enough to deal with the dog using alternate force (or none!).
So many of the comments on the Citizen Times site are similar to the first here. Why is it so many people’s first thought that the lack of the leash led to this sad event, not the possession of a gun by an unreasonably fearful person?
Law Enforcement is a tough job. I’d say the toughest line to walk along with soldiers and firefighters. There are always people in our entitlement society that think they are special, above the law and that thinking stops when it runs into the law, in this case a father out on a hike with his children. If you can not control your pets, your children or yourself it is only a matter of time before someone responsible has to step in and solve the problem. Anyone that elevates their pets, whims or proclivities above another human being, in this case a father out on a hike with his children may have them taken away. It sucks for the dog but as a father, I’d have done the same thing.
Stephen Louis Lange: you seem to have a very lopsided notion of an individual’s responsibility for their actions. It borders on duplicity.
The dogs in this case were running free because the dog owners foot was stuck under a rock in the creek…And they were trying to get him freed..also worth noting is that the dog owner is a pediatrician on a walk with his own son…I doubt a pediatrician would own a vicious animal that was a danger to children…the Deputy ( a jail guard) wanted to use his gun and the poor dogs only mistake was barking probably because it was distressed at what was going on with it’s owner and trying to tell someone help was needed!