DOGS

The most unfortunate aspect of the tragic shooting of a family pet at Neppel Landing is that it was totally avoidable. There were errors of judgment on both sides. The owner, Mr. Criscuolo, should never have had his dogs off leash, because as this incident proved, you just can never know what may suddenly happen. However, this is not a mistake that should have cost the life of a beloved family pet. Deputy Beau Lamens stated that he had his K9 on a leash and so was in control of the police dog. Further statements by Officer Turley that said, “during standard protocol, when a drug dog is called on scene to work, there can be no other dogs in the area” so it truly begs the question as to why the office having noticed that there were not one, but two dogs off leash in the area, not simply put the K9, he claims he had under his control, back in the car until the situation could be properly managed? This was not a life or death situation until the lack of proper protocol and due diligence by the officer made it one. He is supposed to be trained to assess situations and act with public safety as a priority. He reported he fired his weapon not once but three times and only after the dogs were separated. Did he not have a Taser that could have been used instead? Did he not have enough control over his K9 that after the dogs were separated at that point, he or the other deputy could remove the K9 from the scene? It is not acceptable that this office chose deadly force as his only option in a public park when the situation clearly had other options.

Connie Cummins

Moses Lake