Pet owners in Vernon NJ were dismayed when a local Yellow Labrador Retriever was fatally shot by one of our police officers.

We are NOT anti-police  We support our police , but we also recognize a strong need for change  RE: lethal force against canines and against companion dogs

I have police officers in my family,  Angi Metler, Animal Defense League, and I put our brains together once again after saving Tank, the “Death Row Dog.”  We examined the big picture before we met with Vernon’s police Chief and Captain: 1000s of companion dogs are shot by police annually in the U.S.  Companion dogs are perceived as more than property, and the effects of the shootings ripple deeply across communities. Social media disperses such reports widely, often with bias, and public perception of police can be profoundly impacted by a single dog shooting. Police agencies face loss of public trust when these incidents occur. 

What can we do?

We presented our local police with models of Canine Encounter Training programs and policies from Georgia, Los Angeles, Austin Texas, Chicago, Baltimore, Las Vegas, and Denver.

We offered them Canine Encounter Training,  provided by #LEDET, which is unique because it is the first dog training course developed by law-enforcement officers, for law enforcement officers. We also offered Trainer James W Cody, a police officer who trains police officers to handle dog encounters

Embracing this opportunity for Encounter training conveys police support of each of the 1000s of dog owners in Vernon New Jersey.We are all concerned for the safety of our animals. We hope for our police to be trained on how to de-escalate a canine situation, rather than using lethal force

We await a response from our Police, who talked openly about the events that led to The fatal shooting  of Hiro, They are not taught what Canine Encounter Trainers offer:  How to interpret canine body language, recognize canine behavior, and how to make decisions when responding to calls involving dogs, including alternatives to lethal force.

We hope that this will change.

We believe all dogs should be protected by their families and should not be allowed to roam free. However, if a dog gets away from a protective home accidentally, the police must be able to handle such situations without lethal force. We presented options to prevent another situation like Hiro, for the future of Vernon and of its animals.

Please sign my petition in hope that Vernon Police will embrace the need for  canine encounter training In law enforcement.

I thank you. As do the dogs of Vernon