Dog's Death Dogs Traffic Cop

[Wildscar]

Here we go again with another dog thread.

[Elvis]

Problem Solved:

Woman buys clones of her deceased pitbull terrier Booger

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South Korean biotechnologists have engineered a pet resurrection that, until recently, seemed commercially impossible: they have reunited a Californian woman with her dearest friend — or, at least, genetic copies derived from the frozen remains of his ear.

More than £25,000 the poorer but weeping with joy, Bernann McKinney, 57, became the world’s first paying customer yesterday in the strange new industry of canine cloning.

Held in her arms was a quintet of newborn puppies, genetically identical not only with each other but with the late, lamented Booger, a pitbull terrier who died of old age two years ago.

Declaring the whole affair a “miracle”, Ms McKinney said: “They are perfectly the same as their daddy. I am in heaven here. I am a happy person.”

Ms McKinney paid a high financial price for the reunion. Even at the knockdown fee offered to her as a first-time cloner, she had to sell her house to meet the cost.

“I had to make sacrifices and I dream of the day, some day, when everyone can afford to clone their pet, because losing a pet is a terrible, terrible loss to anyone,” she said.

After ten years of happy companionship, Ms McKinney felt the loss of Booger keenly. This was, after all, a ferociously loyal hound who had once saved her life by fending off an attacking mastiff.

Ms McKinney’s hand and legs were savaged in the attack and, she said, it was only via Booger’s loyal assistance — fetching her clothes and shoes, bringing her cans of drink and opening doors — that she was able to make it through the long months of recuperation.

The mastiff, another of Ms McKinney’s pets, had been driven mad by being given ten times the recommended dose of medication for a bee sting, she said. She has told US media how the animal attacked her outside her remote farmhouse, shredding her left arm up to the elbow, tearing one of her legs and nearly ripping the fingers off her right hand.

He was chewing at her stomach when she said she called out: “Help me, God. Help me, Jesus. Help me, Booger,” and the smaller dog succeeded in driving off the mastiff long enough for her to drag herself into the safety of her car.

Ms McKinney, a former beauty queen, had to undergo many episodes of reconstructive surgery and was confined to a wheelchair for months.

[k6gixx]

What was this guy smoking??? Going 100mph is just plain stupid, especially over a dog. They are replaceable, human lives are not.

[The Annoyed Man]

I've been in the situation where I had to get a seizuring pet to an emergency clinic, more than once.

Me too, more than once. Buster was a good dog whom I loved very much, and I still miss him today - a German Shorthaired Pointer. It got so bad that we had to put him down. "He was a good dog." I know of no higher compliment for a dog. But as much as I loved him, it would have never occurred to me to drive recklessly on the way to the animal hospital. I had my wife and son in the car, for crying out loud. Aren't they worth more to me than the dog? How much concern did Gonzalez show in this case for his girlfriend's safety. She was in the car with him. Did he love the dog more than he loves her?

I understand his angst, and yes, the officer in question was insensitive, but he did the right thing by not letting Gonzelez get back in his car and drive like a madman, putting the lives of other human beings at risk over the life of a dog - no matter how well loved the animal was. As I mentioned in my first post in this thread, an officer with a greater degree of sensitivity might have offered to drive the dog there himself, code 3. At least he's better trained to drive that way than Gonzalez. However, for all I know, departmental rules might have forbidden him from making such a decision. If that is the case, then he did the only thing he could do, which was to stop a quantifiable threat to the public safety, no matter how emotionally charged was that decision.

[RANT]
Lastly, I honestly don't get it when people who are able to have or adopt children substitute animals for children and then say they are the same thing. A pet is NOT the same as a child. Period. It is my observation that people who think they are the same have never had a child. I've had both - pets, AND a child. They simply are not the same thing, no matter how you try to justify that position. If you want children, but cannot have children for medical reasons, then adopt a child. My wife was adopted. There is nothing wrong with adoption. Her parents could not have children, so they adopted her as a baby, and raised her and loved her as if she were born to them. Choosing a pet because you want companionship, or because you love dogs, or whatever other "pet" reasons are all perfectly legitimate reasons. But choosing a pet because you want a child but can't have one is simply delusional. If you want a child that badly, ADOPT one. If you aren't willing to take that step and adopt a child, then have the intellectual honesty to admit that perhaps you don't really want a child, because at least an adopted child has more genetic similarity to its adoptive parents than a pet does to its owners. Pets and children are not the same thing, and claiming that they are is just plain silly. And by the way, the law says you OWN a pet. You don't own your children. The relationship between a parent and child is much more complex than mere ownership, and the laws account for that complexity.

I can tell you that if my child savagely attacked my pet, I would discipline my child and seek counseling for him. If my pet savagely attacked my child, I would put the pet down. Period. If my child savagely attacked another person's child, I would discipline my child and seek counseling for him. If my pet savagely attacked another person's child, I would put the pet down. Period. Pets and children are NOT the same thing, and people who think that they are the same thing have gotten their sense of priorities well out of order.
[/RANT]

[Xander]

Here we go again with another dog thread.

Not only another dog thread, but one with no relevance to CHL, shooting, or anything else useful to this forum.

[CompVest]

I agree and think it should have been in the off topic Forum.

[Elvis]

What if fluffy was already dead?

SAN MARCOS — The San Marcos police chief has reprimanded an officer who drew brickbats from around the nation for delaying two college students as they tried to rush their dying dog to a veterinarian this month.

Officer Paul Stephens, who said, “It's just a dog,” as he held the pair beside Interstate 35, received an oral reprimand and counseling, Police Chief Howard Williams said Tuesday.

“We sustained the complaint that was filed,” Williams said. “We made him watch the tape with his supervisor and he was counseled on how to improve his performance.”

But Williams said he believed his officer's assessment that the dog was not alive when he pulled over Michael Gonzales for going 95 mph on the highway after midnight Aug. 5.

Gonzales and his girlfriend Krystal Hernandez, both Texas State University students, were rushing their teacup poodle, Missy, from San Marcos to an all-night vet clinic in New Braunfels after the dog choked on her food and went limp.

The couple pleaded with Stephens to allow them to get the dog to the clinic and then turn themselves in later, or to let Gonzales stay and get his speeding ticket while Hernandez completed the trip alone. Instead, they were kept at the scene for almost 20 minutes waiting for Stephens to issue the ticket as he chatted with two other officers who arrived.

The students say the dog died while they waited.

At one point, the patrol car's dashboard camera showed Stephens telling a distraught Gonzales: “It's just a dog. You can buy another one. Relax.”

Gonzales said Tuesday he thought an oral reprimand was not sufficient.

“That's not really a punishment at all,” he said. “I don't feel a person like that should be working in law enforcement.”

Gonzales said he was surprised and gratified by the outpouring of support he has gotten from pet lovers. The story has aired nationally on “Good Morning America” and “Inside Edition.”

Two Internet petitions demanding Stephens be fired, both launched Monday afternoon, collected more than 300 signatures in a day. And a YouTube clip of the “Good Morning America” segment has been watched more than 1,500 times and collected dozens of comments, some wishing a similar fate for Stephens as the one that befell Missy.

“I'm glad people understand that it's not just a dog, it's a member of the family,” Hernandez said.

Williams said Stephens was right to stop the speeding car and said the dashboard camera shows Gonzales was clearly too upset to drive safely. But the officer should have tried to calm him down; by showing no sympathy, he made Gonzales more upset, not less, the chief said.

He denied Stephens' actions led to Missy's death.

“This dog was already dead,” Williams said. “That is one of the reasons the officers showed no urgency. Nothing the officers did or said caused this dog to die.”

Hernandez said Missy was still breathing as they waited for the ticket to be written. Gonzales has not decided whether to pursue a lawsuit against the department.

[ironsights]

We all understand what an animal gives us, and that is unconditional love. While I do not agree with driving that fast I think that the officer should have accessed the situation and saved life then issued tickets or arrest. Officers have to deal with the worst of the worst on a daily basis and it is easy for them to become numb to allot of things. One thing that we don’t understand is that officers have to deal with the same trials and tribulations as the rest of us and then go out and patrol the worst. I'm not saying to let your guard down because that will get you killed but its time that compassion was shown on an individual basis. Do what your heart knows is right and then follow the law. We are a country brought up on the fundamentalist rights of what is good for the common man. As an officer of the law you are a peace keeper and a civil servant all in one and you are expected to be better, flawless and all knowing in one package. I know that there was only one man that can be all that, and I also know that the only living thing that loves me unconditionally like that man is my dog. Loyal to the end. Ready to fight at unreasonable odds to the end. I can’t say that much for most men I've met. I’m not religious but neither was Christ.

[srothstein]

I have to admit that the chief's answer seems fair to me. A reprimand or counseling for not showing some sympathy and possibly making the situation worse while agreeing that the stop was justified.

If the tape also shows the officer was holding the people up while talking with the other officers over non-related subjects, that is also worthy of discipline, without respect to the do or its condition. The officer should do his job professionally.

[Mark F]

This is totally absurd!

Where does "anyone" get off traveling 100 MPH down I35 to save a PET? Even the Police & EMS can't travel that fast in the most DIRE situations. In the DFW Metroplex, 20 MPH over "can" get you put in jail, 30 over is a guaranteed trip to jail (dog or no dog emergency).

Don't get me wrong... I love pets, and I have both dogs AND cats. BUT there is no way I will risk myself, my family, or anyone else, in an attempt to save a PET. IMHO, the guy should have been arrested on the spot for excessive speed, reckless driving, and incoherence... Then allow the girlfriend to continue the trip to the Emergency Pet Clinic (at a reasonable speed).

[CompVest]

Mark F why not tell us how you really feel.

[Elvis]

You mean the alleged victms lied to the media. I for one am shocked.

Roger Croteau - Express-News SAN MARCOS — San Marcos Mayor Susan Narvaiz on Thursday defended the police officer who detained a speeder and his girlfriend who were trying to rush a dying dog to a veterinary clinic, telling reporters she watched the video shot by the police cruiser’s dashboard video camera.

The video shows the couple was not detained for as long as they claimed and that another officer took the dog and tried to clear its airway, Narvaiz said.

The mayor held the press conference in an attempt to quell weeks of bad publicity over the incident.

The couple has said their teacup poodle, Missy, died as they were kept on the roadside for 20 minutes while Officer Paul Stephens wrote a speeding ticket, despite their pleas that he let them proceed to an all-night veterinary clinic.

At one point, Stephens told them, “It's just a dog. You can buy another. Relax.” He later received a reprimand and counseling from supervisors.

The incident drew nationwide attention when Good Morning America and Inside Edition aired segments on it.

Narvaiz said the city has gotten thousands of phone calls and e-mails demanding he be fired. She said that while Stephens had been "inappropriate and insensitive," she supported the way Police Chief Howard Williams responded to the complaint.

"Without question, the situation was not handled very well by Officer Stephens," Narvaiz said. "But the characterization of the story has led to death threats against the officer and his family by telephone.

“Officer Stephens is a veteran of the Iraq war who joined the San Marcos Police Department in March 2007 after leaving the military. He has been with the department for 15 months. He has no previous history of complaints and has a good record of service with the department."

[pedalman]

I will say that at least the City did not take the easy way out and immediately throw the officer under the bus.

However,the fun is just starting. We'll see what San Marcos does as the heat turns up.

[anygunanywhere]

I will say that at least the City did not take the easy way out and immediately throw the officer under the bus.

However,the fun is just starting. We'll see what San Marcos does as the heat turns up.

The dog owner should not have been driving 100 mph.

The LEO could probably have handled it better but then a lot of people are not as compassionate as some would want them to be. I would be willing to bet that as a rule, LEO are more compassionate to humans than most radical animal lovers are to humans.

From my perspective the only thing that needs to be done is that those making death threats to the LEO over this need to be investigated, prosecuted, and sent to the big house where they will first hand understand the definition of "animal".

Anygunanywhere