That's a good pig..

that was sensible, refreshing to see.

"How'd you like me now?"

Very much!

Car starts up and peels out

About 20 years ago, a pit bull, who was obviously a fighting dog since she was covered in scars, came up to me in my front yard. She was doing that cowering thing where she was practically crawling on her belly and had her head ducked down. I could see the stump of her tail wagging like mad.

Cautiously, I let her smell my hand. She nuzzled & licked it so I gave her some pets & scratches. She had a thick collar, but no tags.

Not knowing what else to do, I opened my car door to leave and she happily hopped right in. She climbed over my seat to the passenger side & curled up, ready to go anywhere I would take her. Now I really didn't know what to do.

Animal control was naturally my first thought, but I knew pit bulls were immediately euthanized and this one was obviously a trained killer of other dogs. On the other hand, I knew the animal, while docile with a grown man, might not be the same around pets or children and, even though it wasn't her fault, maybe a quick painless end to her sad brutal life was the best option.

I ended up going back inside to call a woman I worked with. She did a lot of voluntary animal rescue work and I thought she would give the best advice. After I explained the situation, she asked me to wait by the phone for a while. About 20 minutes later, she called back. She asked if I was comfortable driving the dog somewhere. I was.

She had me meet her at someone's house. A woman came out and told me the other woman was on the way. She interacted with the dog who was as friendly & complaint as before. The woman I worked with arrived shortly with a guy. They all checked the dog out. and had a long discussion amongst themselves.

In the end, the guy put a leash on the dog and loaded her into their car. Again, the dog was happy to go with them. I was told they would try to find her a good home, but the dog had to be thoroughly tested. If it couldn't pass certain behavioral tests, they would have to euthanize it. I gave her one last pet and wished her luck.

I never asked what happened to the dog because I didn't want to know if she ended up being put down. I'd like to believe they found a place where she could finish her days in comfort being loved & cared for.

This cop could have just shot the dogs. They may end up being euthanized anyway, but at least he's giving them a chance to be treated like any other beloved family pet. ANy cop who would go through this much trouble for dogs is unlikely the sort of cop who mistreats suspects. We need more like them.

roaming packs of human aggressive dogs were a pretty frequent sight in my neighborhood growing up, nice to see SW idaho hasn't changed that much

A little trick I learned in my previous career of dog trainer: when approached by random aggressive (not fearful, like these dogs aren't-they're having fun barking at this guy) dogs that are clearly owned by someone, get REAL mean sounding with them. Say stuff harshly like "NO! SIT DOWN NOW! SHUT UP!" It is 0% the way I would talk to a dog normally, obviously, but 99/100 times thats how these dogs are spoken to at home, and dogs understand body language and tone way better than language for commands. A dog like this probably wont "sit" if you say it normally, but if you yell it and look threatening it will. Abused dogs that get dropped at shelters are often like this, but they also often can be rehabilitated.

I love dogs and shit dog owners bum me out.

How ya like me now!?


Like you just fine, officer. Nice work.