FeedsOwners protest police shooting of dog
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Jason Darke isn't happy that Westland police shot his dog, Flash.A Westland family is demanding accountability after their dog was shot by a Westland police officer on Thanksgiving morning.
According to Westland Police Chief James Ridener, officers responded to an early morning call from a homeowner near Westland Shopping Center reporting an attempted break-in. Officers spotted a man with a baseball bat in his hands near the suspected break-in and fanned out to pursue him through the yards of neighboring homes.
Meanwhile, resident Jason Darke said that he was awakened by his dog, Flash, about 6 a.m. Thinking that the pit bull needed to relieve herself, he said that he turned the dog loose in the fenced-in yard of the family home on Bakewell Street, located just a few blocks away from the shopping mall.
According to Darke, he watched from the doorway as the dog started barking and ran toward the ‘intruders’—whom he claims did not identify themselves as police officers—but stayed well away from them. Darke said that he was only about 5 feet away from the dog and that the dog was “at least 30 feet” from the officer when the officer fired his weapon.
According to Ridener, however, the situation was very different.
He said officers on the scene reported that the dog was in the house when police entered the yard through an open gate.
Ridener said that after the dog was let out, she ran at the officer, who allegedly asked repeatedly that the she be called off. The officer shot the dog, Ridener said, when the animal was “less than 2 feet away,” growling, and showing her teeth.
“She was shot through the snout,” said Jason Darke’s sister, Lisa Darke, who originally gave Flash to Jason. “(Fragments of the bullet are) lodged in her neck and the jaw bone.”
The blast, she said, also left the dog’s teeth loose, severed her tongue, and broke her pallet, which stretches across the roof of her mouth.
Jason Darke claims that after arguing with the officer, he eventually received a police escort to an emergency veterinarian, where Flash received about $1,900 worth of care to stabilize her, including repairs to her tongue, after an officer allegedly gave the veterinarian approval to send the charges to the City of Westland.
“She was in pain, but she was still walking around,” said Jason Darke. “I thought, why not giver her another chance.”
According to Ridener, he has not been able to confirm that an officer authorized such an expense and added that none of the officers would have been authorized to accept the charge.
“Preliminarily, we’re still investigating,” said Ridener.
He said that his recommendation would be to not pay the veterinary bill because he believes the officers “didn’t do anything wrong.”
The Darkes disagree.
“It’s just very scary—it could happen to anyone,” said Lisa Darke. “She’s not mean; she’s not vicious. Why would they shoot her? I’m afraid to even let my dog out unless I’m right there, watching.”
Ridener challenged that viewpoint.
“In May of ’07, this dog got loose and bit a 15-year-old kid on the arm,” he said. “It has a history of aggressiveness.”
He also said that Darke’s dog was in violation of the vicious dog ordinance, a Westland requirement that mandates that pit bulls be leashed, muzzled and in an enclosed pen even when they are in their own backyard. The use of lethal force is standard procedure in pit bull attacks, he said, since less intensive options—such as MACE—tends to be ineffective.
Although the decision to treat rather than put down the dog came when Darke said that he believed the police would be absorbing the cost, he said that he doesn’t regret the decision to try to help the 5-year-old pet recover.
“I’m glad I waited,” he said. “I’m glad I didn’t euthanize her. The vet said the prognosis is excellent.”
As of Tuesday, a written veterinary estimate from an area clinic, which was provided by Darke, placed the cost of the necessary future treatments at between $1,947 and $2,272, including treatments for palate repair, the removal of the broken teeth, and repair for the fractured lower jawbone.
If necessary, Darke said, he is prepared to take legal action against the city in an effort to force them to cover the expenses although he said that he hoped things wouldn’t have to go that far.
“I just want her fixed,” he said.
