Police Dog runs away, then gets shot

[TowPro]

I don't think this is right. A young police dog is being walked by it's owner, who says "fireworks" spooked it and the dog ran away (the dog went missing opening day of deer season, I live near where this happened, around here it sounds like Vetnam on opening day). Was this Hunter in the wrong? Yes there are coyote in the area, but you don't see or hear them like out west or up north. We also have laws about letting a dog run loose, I understand it excaped, but then again, why would a police dog be gun shy? I don't know all the answers, just what I have hear and read.



Chesco man charged in police dog death

By Kathleen Brady Shea

Inquirer Staff Writer



A Chester County man who mistook a beloved police dog for a coyote and fatally shot it in November was charged yesterday with damage to property.



If found guilty of the summary offense, Dennis Frederick Herr of Glenmoore will have to pay damages estimated at more than $12,000, said Chester County District Attorney Joseph W. Carroll.



The nearly four-month investigation included a reenactment of the events that led to the Nov. 27 shooting of the Brandywine Regional Police Department drug-sniffing dog, Nelo, Carroll said in a news release.



The discovery of Nelo's body on Nov. 29 ended a three-day search for the 16-month-old German shepherd. The news prompted a flood of condolence calls and e-mails, ranging from offers to replace the dog to outrage over his demise.



Herr could not be reached for comment yesterday.



Herr told police he was hunting with his son on wooded property he owns in West Caln Township when he saw what appeared to be a coyote and fired a shot from a tree stand with his Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun. Herr said he later realized he shot a dog, but did not see Nelo's police badge and left the area to assist his son with a deer, Carroll said.



The shooting occurred about eight hours after Nelo had been spooked by fireworks and bolted from his handler, and before any public notice that he was missing, Carroll said.



The reenactment, conducted by Wildlife Conservation Officer Scott Frederick, was held on Herr's property under the same conditions that existed on the day of the shooting.



Carroll said he rejected a more serious charge, cruelty to animals, because it required proof "that at the time he shot, Mr. Herr knew [not should have known] he was shooting a dog. "



In December, Nelo was memorialized at a church service that included a K-9 procession, eulogies and a bagpiper.



Brandywine Regional Police Chief Mark D. Kocsi said his department was grateful for the closure.



"That's the important thing right now," he said. "We're still in the healing process. "



Kocsi said he hoped Scotty, the police dog missing in Gloucester City since Sunday, would be found safely.



"Dogs are very resilient," Kosci said. "He may be fine. "

 

[bighammer]

Every year hunters shoot all kinds of farm animals, pets, people, etc. OOOPS

Should you feel bad for these boneheads who are not sure of their target before they pull the trigger and find themselves in the spot they're in? I don't think so. Jail time, probably not, but I don't think they should be hunting again or even be able to legally own a gun.

 

[IC Smoke]

Every year hunters shoot all kinds of farm animals, pets, people, etc. OOOPS



Should you feel bad for these boneheads who are not sure of their target before they pull the trigger and find themselves in the spot they're in? I don't think so. Jail time, probably not, but I don't think they should be hunting again or even be able to legally own a gun.

Exactly!!



What kind of a IDIOT mistakes a GERMAN SHEPHARD for a CYOTE! LOOK before you shoot! thats like shooting a person and saying "oh well I thought it was bigfoot"



Did the guy not go and see what he shot? I say chop both his hands off so he cant fire a gun again!!!!!



Ian

 

[GO 4LO]

Plenty of small GSD's could be mistaken for coyotes, especially in low-light conditions or by inexperienced folks. Not saying the guy was right in shooting, but the dog was on his property due to the negligence of the K9 officer, and the coyote mixup story does sound plausible.



This is a little scary to me that the hunter is being prosecuted for this (unless there's more to the story and it doesn't look like an accident or something). I hate to think that I would be in trouble if a wandering police K9 jumped the fence into my backyard to mix it up with my safely contained dogs, for example...



Chris

 

[TowPro]

More to the story. The press got involved. I saw signs in peoples front yards talking about the death penalty for shooting a police dog, and several "We will not forget you (dogs name)" signs etc.

As I said, we do have Coyotes around here (My neighbor has caught some in traps), but they are not like other areas I been in where you see and hear them all the time.

I have not seen this dog, but most of the police sheperds I do see are much darker then the "house version" sherperd. Not saying the guy is right, if he could not 100% ID what he was shooting he should not have shot, even if Yotes are open season all year! Had it not been a police dog, and had the press not jumped on the story, would the outcome have been different?

 

[jwilliams3]

More stupid hunters in action. I'm sure he felt like a real man after he shot that dog and yukked it up with his friends... ... "Yup, got me a dog over the weekend with my POS mosseberg" ROTLFMAO!!

 

[CRuth]

Its odd a police dog would be gun shy. You're screwed in this situation. Police always win in these situations. Maybe he does deserve to pay for his poor judgement, maybe not, but the police will win this one.

 

[jnelson]

You know, I love dogs, animals in general. BUT, if I just see a dog on my deer lease and I dont see a collar... ... . sorry dead dog.



I see some of you have already made judgment on the poor fella. You dont know the conditions of what happened. Maybe at 50 yards in the brush it looked like a coyote. Heck, the dog was only 16 months old.

 

[Royk]

Pennsylvania hunter's motto: If it's brown, it's down.



The thinking seems to be shoot first, identify later.



The dog was a drug sniffing and tracking dog. I don't know if they are trained to remain calm in gunfire (fireworks) situations.



Roy

 

[2broke2smoke]

those of you that don't live in a coyote infested area are clueless ...



one of our neighbors lost thirteen lambs to the coyotes last year and yesterday one of my patients told me that he had lost 7 calves last year ...



it's so bad here that the dnr has put out cyanide lolipops to help control the populations ...



a small shepherd running through the woods would get pasted here ... and no one would be whining about it ...



how many of you guys have been coyote hunting?

 

[Todd T]

My opinion is two fold.



First the guy must be an idiot and needs repremanded for shooting something that had to be close enough to hit with a shotgun and not being able to identify it FIRST! I think hunter safety courses should be a part of his sentence.



Second police dog or not, I dont think they should use any more weight on the guy than someone shooting any other (wrongfully shot) animal during hunting season in the middle of the 100 acre forest. :-laf



to me the police dog part came out of the equation when the silly pup ran away and they didnt warn the public.

 

[Todd T]

a small shepherd running through the woods would get pasted here ... and no one would be whining about it ...



how many of you guys have been coyote hunting?

I completely agree. but around here the hunters use tracking dogs to flush them out and rifles to shoot them with.

 

[Rotty]

Long

I can see both sides.

The hunter is screwd no matter what.

He should not have pulled the trigger unless he could 100% identify his target. This is where you get oops... which should not happen.

Small german shepard with inexperienced hunter could possibly end up with dead dog.

I am sorry it was a police dog. Unfortunatly the media is not telling to WHOLE story with every detail. So it is easy to be mislead by leaving out details.

Their may be some extenuating circumstances they are not telling i. e low light, etc.

If it was just a run away generic dog, nobody would have cared, but seeing how it was a police dog with full search and rescue... ... .



Lets start at the begining...

What was the dog doing their in the first place?

Why did the dog run away?

Accidents are not just a single cause event, but a chain of events that lines up to a result. Break that chain or change one event and you have a different result.

I am not trying to assign blame but get to the bottom of the hard facts.

Once you understand the "whole" series of events, then it is possible to make a fair and impartial judgment. Anything else is prejudicial (sp) and speculation.



Their are too many "ifs" in this story. If the poilceman had his dog on a leash, if the fireworks did not go off, if the dog was trained in loud unexpected noises, if the hunter fully identifed his target, if their was better light, etc, etc, etc.

I may get flamed for this but I was trained as an engineer to look at facts and not speculations.

 

[holmanrd]

I for one, am going to hold my judgment. I don't know all the circumstances. I do know that some shotgun slugs are rated dead on at 100 yrds with only a 2-3 inch drop at 125 yrds. At 125 yrds a small Shepard can look very much like a coyote. If it were "my property" I probably would have shot it myself depending on the circumstances.



Growing up on my grandfather’s ranch (private property-the key) we were taught from a very young age, if any animal threatens the livestock, drop it. This included yotes & dogs. We were also taught that if we saw a yote to drop it regardless. If we knew it was a neighbor’s dog we would call and warn them first but after that... As the town grew and the housing got closer and closer we had to deal more and more with people who felt they were entitled to do as they please, their land or ours. It aint a darn park, its "private property"!!!



Now that I have my own spread I will continue this practice of land management, including thieves, coyotes or dogs. My closest neighbor is 5 miles away but if he can't control his dog, it’s gone. I have seen or had to finish off too many calves with just their soft bellies or hind ends eaten out, costing us thousands of dollars.



Just my opinion,

Robert

 

[Royk]

Hmmm. And I always thought hunters were supposed to POSITIVELY identify their target. Silly me.

 

[jnelson]

Hmmm. And I always thought hunters were supposed to POSITIVELY identify their target. Silly me.

He did, small grayish-brown 4 legged animal that looks like a dog - BANG:-laf

 

[glhs]

If he had positivley identified it as a dog, does that mean he would not have shot?

It had no "police dog" identification!

If he had said "Yeah, I knew it was a dog, not my own, so I shot it" he would still be screwed!

 

[Pawpaw]

As has already been stated, if you have livestock ANY stray dog is a threat to your livelihood.



Around here, it seems the "city folk" think its a good idea to turn their unwanted dog loose in the country. I guess they think "farmers love dogs, so someone will take care of him. " Not hardly! If the animal wasn't raised around the livestock, it will be trouble, easily costing the land owner thousands of dollars.



Even if it has a collar (most do, in fact), it has to go. Of course, no one I know just leaves the carcass laying where it fell, either.



Bob

 

[TowPro]

Earler they were saying this dog had a sign hanging from its collar that Identified it as a police dog, but in low light early morning at 100 yards your not going to see that sign.

 

[Sled Puller]

I like the anti hunter knee jerk reactions in here. "Guys a moron cut off his hands. ", that is so stupid, it should be deleted.



Lets look at the facts, without emotion.



It is against the law, to let your dog run loose, accident or not.

Coyotes are in season year round, with a valid PA hunters lic.

He was on his own property, which means, he has the right to shoot any dog, that is trespassing.



Now, if he did see the tag that indentified it as a police dog, I'm fairly certain he would not have shot. But maybe not, He was no doubt angry that somebodys dog was running the game away.



If he did think it was a coyote,(which is quite possible, low light, and with the inbreeding going on easy mistake. ) he had every right to shoot.





If anyone should be charged with anything, the police should be charged for not keeping their animal under control.



BTW, if I see a GS in my woods, its dead. Along with any other breed I consider dangerous, or I don't know the dog. And I like dogs.