Service Dog in Training Shot on Thanksgiving

by  pato_garza

The Associated Press published a disturbing story over Thanksgiving. A bicyclist shot a service dog in training on Thanksgiving Day, while the dog was playing in the yard.

I did not publish this story immediately because I wanted more facts to come in and to be able to tell my audience the full story. Now that a few days have passed, it seems the facts have come in.

Dog Owner Side of Story

Dan Bou bought the Doberman pincher in July and began training the dog to be a therapy do for senior citizens. He reports that Scooby was gentle and would never hurt a fly.

On Thanksgiving Day, Scooby was playing in the front yard, which has no fence. Scooby was also off leash at the time. According to Bou, this is not an uncommon practice for the residents of his Davie neighborhood.

Dan Bou was cleaning his garage while Scooby was playing in the yard. The rest of the family was in the house preparing Thanksgiving dinner. All of the sudden, Dan heard a shot and his dog whimper. Then, Scooby took several steps before dying in Dan’s arms.

Dan is shocked and disturbed by the whole incident. He was quoted as saying, “It’s very alarming that someone would be riding a bike with a gun at 11 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day.” He also said, “I can’t believe he gets rescued from the streets of Miami-Dade only to be shot and killed in Davie.”

Bicyclist Side of the Story

While the bicyclist is still unnamed and it appears will stay that way, his side of the story has been partially reported.

According to the cyclist, Scooby attached him while riding. He also said he was afraid for his life and had to shoot the dog.

No reason has been reported of why the cyclist was carrying a gun while riding.

Police Report

After the police investigated the charges, the cyclist was not charged with a crime. The police say the man had a permit to carry the gun. The police say the cyclist was attacked by the dog and therefore, will not be charged.

This was also the second time this year a dog was fatally shot by a resident in Broward County.

Final Thoughts

I am torn on this issue, since I was not there.

On the one hand, I love service animals and think they should be respected. They need to be protected and tough laws should exist for harming the dogs. With no reports of the man being injured, it makes me wonder how he was attacked. No reported wounds has me that he was very quick to draw his weapon and kill the dog.

On the other hand, I live in a neighborhood with lots of mean and loose dogs. My neighbor’s cat was killed when a loose dog opened the screen door, ran in, grabbed the cat and took it outside to kill it. This (among other situations) causes me to carry around a knife to protect myself and my dogs from such an attack. If one of the known attack dogs in this neighborhood where to run up on me or my dog, I might have to put it down before it hurt me. I really would be scared for my life.

I am not sure what the situation was for the dog or the cyclist. If the dog was doing nothing, then the cyclist should be charged. However, if this rescue dog was threatening the cyclist, then it was justified.

Basically, “in-training” does not mean the dog is perfect. However, it does mean crimes against the dog should be looked at more thoroughly.

What are your thoughts on this situation? Keep in mind the following facts

• The dog was off leash and unfenced, which is against the law
• The man had a permit for the gun, which is legal