Owner failed to register the dog, failed to collar and tag her - has previous conviction for 'Animal Abuse' - does he sound like a caring and compassionate person to you?

I am trying to see this from all angles my points being..

The officer appeared to be on the telephone (I doubt he was calling his wife to see what was for tea)..There appears to be some respest, covering the dog afterwards.

The story isn't entirely clear, there are alsorts of possibilites, we don't know the full facts in the lead up to those events, the dog may have been aggressive before the footage actually began. The fact that they had this dog completely under control is bothering people, however consider that this dog was caught with the catchpole just may indicate a degree of compassion given the actions they performed, animals might just run away after being shot and left to die at the side of the road left to suffer, being secured by a catchpole prevents her from running away to die an inhumane death. There are lots of issues that don't sit right with me, lack of details missing from the event being the main one.

This video makes the police look terrible but I do truely believe that the story is deeper than what we see.

The state only has nine full time employee's consisting of, four titled officers which are chief, lieutenant, sergeant and corporal. Also employed with the department are four officers, and a office manager.

I'm sure you would agree that they are understaffed and overworked ? Taking into consideration they are not only law enforcement, but animal control too.

If you have children I wonder if you would feel differently if you and your child were approached by a growly, threatening, aggressive, possibly vicious ''stray'' dog ? The lady in tow with her child that day whom called the police admits she didn't want to see the poor Cammie shot, she admits to chaining Cammie and feeding her, but if she didn't want the police to carry out those actions, why didn't she attempt to stop them ?

I can only draw the conclusion that she feared for her own and her childs safety (what mother wouldn't?) the police took 68 minutes trying to decide what to do, no one else has said what should have been done - apart from call animal control (in which case that state don't have one) or get her in a boarding facility kennel (again the state don't have one) in that case it may have helped if the state had funds for trained officers and animal control.

My guess is this will forever go round in circles until full facts are established.

I'll say again I don't agree with the way the whole event appears to have been handled, all we have is a 10 minute snippet of a video that consists of 68 minutes, how can full facts be established from 10 minutes ?
When officers attended the scene for a whole 68 minutes ?

i think he was wrong to not register her, but we dont know why she wasnt collared or tagged. i dont want to stick up for him, coz i dont think he deserves it but i do not agree that it was 100% down to him what happened to her. the police did not have to shoot her.

i have tried seeing from all sides too, but i cannot agree with the police officers side... so i am taking the dogs side.

oh yes, respect for her by covering her after she had been killed but not the respect to kill her humanely, or even kill her outright.

i dont think the events leading up to it matter, coz like you said, it is the fact that she was shot while under control that is bothering some of us.

ok, so its a degree of compassion that they put the dog on a catchpole... so what about shooting her 3 times? was that compassion for her? the very fact they had her on a catchpole means she did not have to be shot, as she was no danger.

but how busy is this place? i am guessing not very if the numbers are so low, and therefore they could easily not be overworked.

the woman just says she heard growling and saw the dog running toward her. im sorry, but i just wonder what kind of 'growling' it was, coz dogs can be noisey. my jake is very noisey when he plays, and when he is pestering people for attention, both of which some people would (and do) mistake for growling. also, i highly doubt the dog was aggressive, if she was then how did the woman get her on a chain??

i think they should have muzzled her when they put the collar on (oh yes, she must have been crazy aggressive to allow them to do that), and then taken her to a vet to be PTS. i dont think that would, or should, have been too difficult. surely this place has got to have a vets??

I've said all along I don't agree with the way this was handled

That said blame the irresponsible convicted 'animal abusing' idiot that owned her, he put her in that situation in the first place

As well as being law enforcement, the police there are also 'animal control'..as I said before, thats a heavy burden 68 minutes they spent at the scene whilst attempting to deal with Cammie - whilst trying to deal with Cammie they could have been out chasing criminals, saving human lives - the police are not to blame here I'm sorry you don't agree.

The blame ultimately lies with her owner for allowing her to be put in that position in the first place. The footage was shot in March, it has only the last few days been released - that wouldn't have anything to do with his impending court appearance would it ? In the hope his fines, or imprisonment was less ?

Taken from news report..

Imo, the dog was failed first by her owner, and second, by those tasked with her destruction.

She should have never been allowed to get into that situation in the first place, but the world isn't perfect, and sometimes sh*t happens. However, in this case, it certainly wasn't cleaned up correctly.

Did I say the owner wasn't to blame?

My issue is, simply, that after deciding that she was to be killed, and including her being restrained, it should not have taken 3 shots to do it. Thats it, thats what the issue I've got is, not the owners clear ulterior motives.

I'll say it again, she should have never been allowed to get into that situation in the first place, but she did, which is no ones falt but the owners, and it was handled badly by those dealing with it, wasting valuable police time and resulting in a dog that had to suffer before she died.

So yes, the owner should share a large portion of the blame, but those left to clean up his mess, could have done a better job of it, so they do have some blame to share, wether you agree or not.

As I have repeated continuously during this thread, 58 minutes of that footage are missing, we've been shown a heavily edited 10 minute video of messy events.

How are we supposed to know that during that 68 minute video that Cammie was not thrashing about on that catchpole, if she was, how on earth could they get a clean ''shot'' at her ? How do we know she was not a threat prior to that footage being taken? None of us were there, so it's unfair to comment.

We've been shown a 10 minute version of events that day, heavily edited by a convicted animal abusing irresponsible idiot that should not have been in charge of a flea, let alone Cammie.

What I seriously don't get, is, had she been elsewhere on a farm worrying livestock no one would have batted an eyelid and said person would have had the full backing of the public and the law for carrying out those actions.

Yet where there appears to be a ''stray'' dog, reported as worrying people/children, police get called, human life or limb may possibly be at risk everyone is up in arms over it

A LaGrange man who drew national attention after video showing police killing one of his dogs surfaced on the Internet vowed Thursday to seek changes in the law.
Judge Fred Westhoff fined Marcus Mays $50 for failure to register a dog with the city and $100 for failure to have a leash or muzzle on a vicious animal. Mays also must pay court costs of $29.
“We can’t have dogs taking after young children or even adults,” Westhoff said. “It’s just not safe.”
Mays requested the bench trial and represented himself. Afterward, he said he will ask the city to revise its animal ordinances.
“I think if I get enough people together and raise a big enough complaint, maybe they’ll change it,” Mays said.
City Attorney Jeff Curl said he had hoped for a stiffer fine because it would have “sent a message” to dog owners to “follow the ordinance.”
Mays described the animal as an American bulldog, but authorities termed it a pit bull.
The dog, named Cammie, was shot to death on March 31 by Officer Doug Howell.
Video from part of the incident later was posted on YouTube, but it shows fewer than 10 minutes of the 68 minutes that Howell and Officer Jason Powell were on the scene.
The video which was not shown at Thursday’s hearing, was from a police car camera. Mays said a friend of his put it on the Internet.
The officers were responding to a call from LaGrange resident Mary Coleman that the dog had acted threateningly toward her and her daughter as they walked to a school bus stop.
“It was growling at my six-year-old,” Coleman testified. “I wanted my kid to be safe and myself to be safe.”
Mays pointed out that the dog could not have been too angry because Coleman chained it at her home while Howell and Powell went to get special equipment used in handling animals.
The video shows that at one point, the dog laid down on the street and remained motionless for a time.
Howell testified that the dog growled as he tried to load it into a truck, that it later broke free from a chain tied to the vehicle and eventually charged as he tried to capture it with a six-foot catchpole.
Powell described the dog as “aggressive” and “vicious.” Both officers had electroshock weapons, but did not use them because they said the effectiveness would have lasted only five second.
Howell said that he felt the only option to protect the safety of neighbors was to shoot the dog.
Howell fired one shot to the chest, which felled the animal. On the video, the dog can then be seen wagging its tail. Howell said he fired a shot to the head “because I didn’t want the dog to suffer.”
“I didn’t feel it was right how they handled that,” Mays said.
A neighbor of Mays, Frances Hamilton, testified that the animal had previously chased her husband.
Curl pointed out that Mays had pleaded guilty to animal abuse in 2007 and had been ordered not to own pets for two years. Mays argued that the circumstances did not warrant the punishment and that he had pleaded guilty only to avoid a court fight.
Cammie was just a pup when Mays got the female 18 months ago. He said the dog had never been aggressive.
Mays said he has four other dogs – three pit bulls and a mastiff. He said he did not register Cammie because doing so “slipped my mind.” The other four are registered, he said.
Howell and Powell have not been disciplined. Police Chief Dale McNelly said his department is working with the Humane Society of Missouri on additional training in dealing with unruly dogs. The city already has budgeted money for a new animal shelter.
City code defines vicious canines as “any dog(s) that has the appearance and characteristics of being predominantly aggressive” and any “dog(s) not in law enforcement service that has bitten a human being previously or attached another human being previously, whether such occurred within or without” the LaGrange city limits.
Even if his campaign to change the law in unsuccessful, Mays said the fight will be worth it.
“I don’t feel (Cammie) was vicious,” he said. “I feel I stood up for her.”

So yes, the owner should share a large portion of the blame, but those left to clean up his mess, could have done a better job of it, so they do have some blame to share, wether you agree or not.

surely this place has got to have a vets??

Did I say the owner wasn't to blame?

My issue is, simply, that after deciding that she was to be killed, and including her being restrained, it should not have taken 3 shots to do it. Thats it, thats what the issue I've got is, not the owners clear ulterior motives.

I'll say it again, she should have never been allowed to get into that situation in the first place, but she did, which is no ones falt but the owners, and it was handled badly by those dealing with it, wasting valuable police time and resulting in a dog that had to suffer before she died.

So yes, the owner should share a large portion of the blame, but those left to clean up his mess, could have done a better job of it, so they do have some blame to share, wether you agree or not.

As I have repeated continuously during this thread, 58 minutes of that footage are missing, we've been shown a heavily edited 10 minute video of messy events.

How are we supposed to know that during that 68 minute video that Cammie was not thrashing about on that catchpole, if she was, how on earth could they get a clean ''shot'' at her ? How do we know she was not a threat prior to that footage being taken? None of us were there, so it's unfair to comment.

We've been shown a 10 minute version of events that day, heavily edited by a convicted animal abusing irresponsible idiot that should not have been in charge of a flea, let alone Cammie.

What I seriously don't get, is, had she been elsewhere on a farm worrying livestock no one would have batted an eyelid and said person would have had the full backing of the public and the law for carrying out those actions.

Yet where there appears to be a ''stray'' dog, reported as worrying people/children, police get called, human life or limb may possibly be at risk everyone is up in arms over it

The postal code for LaGrange MO is 63448, the nearest vet is in an entirely different state, Illinois.
The distance if I have calculated it correct is 167.40 miles with a total travel time of 2 hours 47 minutes - now tell me again that they should have taken her to a vet, that one being the nearest one

Of course they should have let her loose to do as she pleased around that county

I'd say he's ALL to blame.
So I guess it's okay to do illegal stuff but not okay to accept the blame for irresponsible concequences

good post.



again, what does it matter what she did before she was shot? she was restrained when she was shot, and that is the main issue here.

there are times when she was on the catch pole when she was still, and they still couldnt get a clean shot! heck, when she was shot the guy was right next to her and she was standing calmly.

none of us were there and none of us know the people involved, and yet you still judge the owner. you do not know him, or why he was charged of animal cruelty. you also do not know the woman who claims she was chased by Cammie, she could be a nasty woman with a gripe against the owner. i have read posts on here when neighbours cause trouble for members, so how do you know that wasnt what this was? i am judging what i can see.