St. Petersburg Police Change Policy to Stop Dog Shootings

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Nov 16, 2011

In response to the outcry following the shooting of a 12-year-old golden retriever named Boomer, St. Petersburg Chief of Police Charles Harmon announced changes in the Florida department’s policy on responding to animal calls and use of deadly force on animals .

More than 7,000 dog lovers joined a popular campaign on Change.org, started by Nancy Smith, who was inspired to start the campaign because of her own aging golden retriever. The online petition was in support of Boomer's owner's efforts to get justice for his dog's tragic death.

The national campaign received local media coverage leading up to the police department's press conference, where Chief Harmon announced that he would be adding language to the Department’s Use of Force Policy to specify that the use of deadly force on an animal is only authorized “if it poses an imminent threat of death or great bodily harm to a person.” In addition, the department is purchasing equipment to help with the humane capture of dogs and, as a matter of policy, will defer all animal-related incidents to the experts at Animal Control whenever possible.

Thanks to pressure from dog lovers across the country, St. Petersburg Police Department has created a model policy for limiting the use of deadly force on animals.

When a police officer's first line of defense in restraining an animal is to reach for a weapon, it is sending the wrong message to the community that they swore to uphold and protect. If the police officer is the first responder involving an animal, then the police officers should be trained in animal control techniques. The "uncooperative animal" that the police officer may kill could be someone's senior pet who could be afraid, deaf, or in pain and not able to respond to the officer's request. 

Boomer, the 12-year-old arthritic Golden Retriever shown in this photo, was shot and killed by St. Petersburg Police in October. His death is tragic enough on its own, but the fact that he was the 7th dog killed by the police department this year shows that the officers not only need training, but a clear policy that encourages non-lethal dog handling techniques.

St. Petersburg Police Department must adopt a new policy for standing operating procedure when they deal with canines that incorporates a force continuum, with lethal force as a last resort.

If you would like to read more about Boomer, his Facebook page is called Boomer's Voice, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Boomers-Voice/160030397422056 where you can find photos of Boomer's life as the family pet.  Here are two articles about this tragic story: http://animalconnectionblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/police-kill-12-year-old-golden.html and http://animalconnectionblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/police-kill-12-year-old-golden.html

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