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Police can shoot if attacked by dogs
By MIKE BRASSFIELD © St. Petersburg Times, published October 6, 2000 ST. PETERSBURG -- A police officer is allowed to shoot a threatening dog if the officer is in danger of being attacked, but such shootings are fairly rare. By chance, law enforcement officers have shot three dogs in St. Petersburg in a span of five days. Each case will be reviewed by police supervisors, who will decide whether the shootings were justified. Most recently, a St. Petersburg police officer shot a dog that reportedly jumped over a fence and came at him in an alley Wednesday night. About 7:15 p.m., Officer Brian Rivera was called to a report of domestic violence at 4338 Queen St. N. He was told that the person accused of being violent had left and was headed down a nearby alley. As Rivera walked down the alley, a 3-year-old mixed-breed dog at 4228 Queen St. N came over a fence, its teeth bared and its ears pointed back. Neighbors said the dog scaled the fence often, according to police spokesman Rick Stelljes. On Monday, a Pinellas County sheriff's detective shot an 80-pound dog twice, but it survived. Detective Larry Weglarz, who investigates burglaries, was approaching a mobile home at 1209 25th Way N in St. Petersburg to look for a suspect. A large husky-type dog came through an open door and growled at Weglarz, baring teeth and nipping at him, said sheriff's Sgt. Greg Tita. The dog, named Pup Pup, was shot in the head and left shoulder and was treated at a veterinary hospital. On Saturday, St. Petersburg police Officer Jack Soule shot a 40-pound pit bull on a wooded trail in the 800 block of 58th Avenue NE. The dog's owner criticized the shooting, but Soule said the dog had come at him barking and growling. St. Petersburg police officers shot three or four dogs a year from 1996 to 1998, records show, but they shot no animals last year.
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