Michigan Cops Raid Wrong House And Shoot Beloved 15-Year-Old Dog
BY Herschel Smith
9 years, 6 months ago
Authorities who went to the wrong house in search of a wanted fugitive and shot a beloved family pet are refusing to take responsibility for their actions, according to a Michigan attorney who has filed a lawsuit against them.
“These officers came into the wrong house, shot this dog, told the owners they would take care of it and then never returned their calls,” Royal Oak attorney Chris Olson told The Huffington Post.
Olson is representing Erica Moreno and Katti Putnam. The couple’s 15-year-old mixed breed dog, Clohe, was shot in the face during the mistaken police raid, Olson said.
Clohe survived the shooting, but has had to endure three surgeries, and lost part of her tongue and a canine tooth.
“Clohe’s not been the same since,” Putnam told HuffPost. “It really angers me and makes me concerned for the system and how things work.”
On Oct. 3, Olson filed a federal lawsuit against Michigan Department of Corrections investigator Ron Hughes. The lawsuit alleges that in shooting Clohe, the defendant violated Moreno and Putnam’s Fourth Amendment rights.
According to Putnam, the events leading up to the shooting began on June 18 when Hughes, along with several Michigan State troopers, went to Moreno and Putnam’s home to recover a wanted fugitive.
“It was a hot day, the windows and back door were open, and I was sitting inside reading a book,” Putnam said.
The peaceful summer day was interrupted by a loud bang at the front door.
“The next thing I knew there was a tactical team surrounding our house,” Putnam said. “I went onto the front porch and they said they were looking for a fugitive. I was answering their questions when an officer looked at the address on our house and said, ‘We’re at the wrong house.'”
According to Olson, the tactical team had mistaken Moreno and Putnam’s house for that of a neighbor’s home — where the fugitive they wanted was allegedly staying.
“I went inside to get my identification and I heard a pop,” Putnam said. “I looked out the door to the back yard and there was an officer with his arm raised and a gun in his hand. I immediately realized Clohe had gone outside.”
Jimmy Armstrong, a neighbor who witnessed the shooting, wrote in a signed affidavit that he saw Clohe enter the backyard. He said she was not attacking or threatening any of the officers.
“[Hughes] shot Clohe for no reason at all,” Armstrong wrote in the affidavit, according to the lawsuit.
Hughes allegedly fired a second shot, which missed Clohe, prompting Putnam to place herself in harm’s way — between the officer and her now injured pet.
“I was yelling at him,” said Putnam. “I said, ‘Why are you shooting my dog? What are you doing? You’re at the wrong house.'”
During the exchange, Clohe made her way back inside the house, leaving a trail of blood in her wake.
“I followed the blood trail into the bedroom, where my partner was cradling Clohe and crying hysterically,” Putnam said.
According to the lawsuit, a Michigan state trooper told Moreno and Putnam, “We’ll take care of this” and urged them to get their wounded pet to a veterinary clinic.
[ … ]
“They should not have been in our backyard,” she said. “Clohe did not charge them or anything. She is old. She has a hard time getting on our couch as it is and she hobbles down the steps when she goes outside. She does not run or charge.”
I am always loath to disarm people (note my defense of the so-called “mentally ill”), even the police. Law enforcement has as much right to self defense as I do, but this has become an epidemic.
As a side note, I’ve said before that if you are in law enforcement and cannot handle animals, you are unfit, unsuited and unqualified for the job. Go spend some time at a farm or ranch doing the things you should have learned to do as a little boy. If you are a pussy around animals, you surely shouldn’t be hunting for felons.
But to the main point, one by one, police force after police force, if you prove that you cannot handle yourselves with maturity, decency and respect for ordinary folks, you should not be armed. You should forthwith turn in your weapons to your superiors, and if you don’t, you should be forcibly disarmed by the National Guard (or the unorganized militia).
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On October 13, 2014 at 8:46 am, Paul B said:
Amen.
On October 13, 2014 at 9:57 am, Josh said:
Hear, hear!
I also like the tack they’re taking with a federal lawsuit for violation of their fourth amendment rights as US citizens to be “secure in their … effects.” That dog is their property, while also being a beloved part of their family.
Disarm the tyrants.
On October 13, 2014 at 10:22 am, Blake said:
First impression: The cop shot the dog, just because he could.
On October 13, 2014 at 5:38 pm, Lina Inverse said:
We have now had so many examples of this, with this sort of detail (Radley Balko writes a lot about “puppycide”, that it’s impossible not to come to the conclusion that a lot of police indeed do this because they can.
For that matter, both Waco and Ruby Ridge started out with premeditated dog slaughter.
On October 13, 2014 at 1:59 pm, Joe Shmoe said:
Keep your dog in the house or on a leash.
On October 13, 2014 at 2:09 pm, Herschel Smith said:
My back yard is my back yard. I’ll use it for any purpose I want – up to and including letting my dog run around in the back yard as long as I want it to (and also including biting the ass off of anyone who tries to trespass on my property.
Want to come aboard? Fine. Call and make an appointment. Jerk.
Want to shoot at my dog? I’ll shoot at you.
On October 14, 2014 at 11:54 am, MrD said:
My dogs are in the house.I keep them in especially at night for alerting me,and protection if necessary.I am a retired military man and respect the police 100%.But a loose trigger in any one’s hand is not how I was trained on firearms.I understand what police officers go through,my oldest brother was an Ohio State Trooper,but he knew his limitations.That is not to say that if necessary he would have hesitated to defend his own life.But unless a dog is really attacking,a few seconds wouldn’t hurt to spare it’s life.When people place a NO TRESPASSING sign on their property,the police should respect it and not shoot a family pet.Besides how is it that animal control officers manage to live when confronting a dog?
On October 13, 2014 at 5:41 pm, Josh said:
Keep your fat body off of my property and out of my life.
On October 13, 2014 at 8:27 pm, Ned Weatherby said:
Um – did you even read the article, Schmoehole? Their dog WAS in the house, exited the house, and was shot by trespassers.
You must be a cop, Schmoehole. No one else would excuse this type of behavior, which as reached epidemic proportions. LEOs shoot dogs that are under 15 lbs, because they are in “fear for their life.”
Obviously, LEOs who shoot dogs should first get a job as a mailman. Mail carriers, meter readers, and other service and delivery personnel don’t shoot dogs, yet have to deal with dogs on a regular basis.
If you’re such a pussy that you have to shoot a 15 year old dog hobbling out the back door, you should be locked in a rubber room, Schmoehole.
In any event, LEOs who shoot dogs because they’re skeered, should clearly, IMO, not be armed. They’ve demonstrated that they are paranoid – and paranoia is a psychological disorder. Remember? Disarm crazy people, and all that?
On October 13, 2014 at 10:53 pm, Brian Flate said:
@Joe…..I grade your boot licking a solid 7 out of 10. If you wore your armband it would have been a 9.
On October 14, 2014 at 12:42 am, Roger V. Tranfaglia said:
Yeeaaa…Charge the owner w/animal cruelty……TWIT…….
On October 14, 2014 at 6:19 am, Ofnir said:
That doesn’t seem to help at all. I’ve read several reports where the people realized what was going on and secured their dogs and the police popped them anyway. In one case, they even let the lady put the dog in a bathroom after they’d searched it, and then several filed in and shot the dog anyway…if memory serves it was a small dachshund, so not exactly a giant threat.
On October 13, 2014 at 8:59 pm, gyrwan said:
Photo of the offending officer here, on page 2 of this .pdf :
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/corrections/FYI071114_462695_7.pdf
For reasons other than the plague of the sadistic and canine-phobic in copdom, I think you’ll find it ironic/pathetic.
On October 13, 2014 at 10:09 pm, Well Done said:
“I followed the blood trail into the bedroom, where my partner was …” his “partner”? What does that mean? Not “spouse”, “girlfriend”, “boyfriend”? I think the word “partner” is kinda like saying “happy holiday” instead of “merry Christmas”. Weird.
On October 14, 2014 at 12:09 am, Dirt McGirt said:
Not that it has much bearing on this case, but I think amongst Erica and Katti, there is no “his.”
On October 16, 2014 at 12:11 pm, Kaleiokalani J. Barela said:
I would say that they should make it bear on the case. Use the liberal PC tolerance party line in the media. Pound the drum that they were treated that way because they were homosexuals. I say use the rules of the liberal/statist in the fight against tyranny and in support of The Constitution instead of undermining it for once.
On October 13, 2014 at 10:32 pm, Mo Hammed said:
Isn’t it amazing that mailmen and animal control officers all over the country have spent decades doing their jobs without shooting dogs, and a cop can’t wipe his own ass without busting a cap into Rover?
On October 14, 2014 at 3:43 am, Daniel Barger said:
They shoot dogs BECAUSE THEY CAN….first because far too many of them are schoolyard bully’s pinned to a badge with overt sociopathic tendencies. Second they do it because it is
a MESSAGE….as in “we can shoot your dog with impunity and we can shoot YOU with impunity”.
This abuse ends when these sociopaths start paying a price for their conduct….a price paid PERSONALLY and not by the taxpayer. Makes one wonder if the dude in PA. had his dog shot
by a thug doesn’t it.
On October 14, 2014 at 11:35 am, MrD said:
The greatest fear that I experience is not that intruders would break in and kill me,but that a misguided police force would break in and kill my dos and me.