as a dog lover, I find it like saying they can kill a teen for talking back,its something they do as teens. Dogs bark.
IMO it would be more appropriate to say "I find it like saying they can kill a teen for pointing a gun at them even though the safety is on or the gun is unloaded. Teens like guns. Dogs bark."
'threat' if a dog lunges at you,, I understand protecting oneself from a lunging dog,, but shooting a dog JUST for barking? that is BEYOND ridiculous
Random dog psychology and behavior, as well as understanding at a glance how a dog has or hasn't been trained, isn't part of basic police academy training, yet.
Maybe someday the law will catch up!
Other than that, the law interpretation isn't saying "you have to shoot a dog if it's barking at you, if you don't shoot it then you'll be fined, fired, sued, and put in jail" so much as, "if you shoot a dog and you had reasonable fear of imminent danger, the minimum evidence being barking, which can be a sign of aggression, then we aren't going to prosecute you and won't allow you to be sued for it if it's in pursuit of your official duties."
Things "might" be different if pets were treated kind of like getting a drivers license. Where you have to take the dog in with you and get basic training. Like when a cop flashes its lights you pull over, when a uniform comes in the house doggy lays down and is quiet.
IMO/IME a lot of urban pet owners buy..err, sorry...pay the "rehoming furever home" fee and treat their pets like an ego accessory.
And there are a lot of d-bags that try to buy the scariest most vicious looking dogs as extensions of their penis and dominating desires.
Not to mention people that train their dogs for dog fighting.
shooting a dog JUST for barking? that is BEYOND ridiculous
Maybe completely off topic but I have thought of shooting neighbors dogs for barking many many times.
Going years without a full uninterrupted nights sleep because they decided to let their dog out at 11, or 1, or 2, or 3, or 4 am, or some random time in the middle of the night, and it starts howling at the cats or joggers or random cars or to be let back in, every 5, 10, 20, or random interval, minutes.
Calling animal control does nothing. Talking to the neighbors does little. Sometimes gets them to tell you to f' off and dog crap in your yard or mailbox. Sometimes they'll try, put shock collars on their dog, or not let it out at night.
But of course the neighbor turned their house into a rental so 6 months later it's 65 year old constant burnt umber tan lady with her 4 yappy dogs that she barks at to keep them from barking which only makes them bark more often.
I like dogs. I like well trained dogs.
If police are shooting dogs, IMO it's most likely the owners fault for poor training.