San Mateo County Sheriff Shoots and Kills Family Pet

September 27, 2012

To Whom it May Concern,

On Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012 my roommate had a friend over at our house. He was standing in the driveway talking to another friend when Redwood City “Task Force” drove by the house.  They took notice of the men talking and recognized one of them.  They made a U-turn and got out of their vehicle with a very aggressive approach which startled him.  Since the Task Force drive around in an unmarked car the gentleman was confused and wasn’t sure who was approaching as such, so he fled down the driveway to the back gated yard in which our dogs are keep safely.  The police ran after him and entered the yard.  I heard the commotion and quickly ran out my room.  I heard my dog barking so I rushed to the back yard only to be stopped by the police. They had the man obtained as they were handcuffing him.  They would not let me through.  I saw my dog through the doorway and he was just staying in one place barking at the policeman across the yard from him.  At that moment I heard four gunshots.  My dog then fell to the ground.  I started screaming, I wanted to go see if he was alright.  They hurried me out to the other side of the fenced yard. He was out of my sight.  I was completely panicked and keep insisting for them to let me go to him.  Finally an officer came to me and yelled “your dog is dead!!”. They still would not let me see him.  They held me back with force.  It was at least 30 minutes before they finally let me see him, then they told my friend to take me away from the house.  When I was leaving they were also taking the man away (under arrest).  I yelled at him “they killed my dog!!!!”.  The police kept telling me the reason the dog was shot was because of that man.  They said that he had a warrant. A few days later, that man came to my house.  I didn’t want to see him, for I felt it was his fault, I was mad that he could come to my home with that pending situation of an out-standing warrant.  I felt that he brought the trouble to my home. 

I have found that the man had no warrant, in fact he wasn’t even on probation or parole.  He had a past history, but since has changed his lifestyle and has lived free of any criminal activity for several years.  The charges he received that day were “Trespassing” (on my property) and “Evading a police officer”.  He said that while he was at the station getting processed that the police man-handled him and told him that he should “move out of town”.  He had been harassed and actually arrested twice since this incident.

I don’t understand this at all.  How can the police come on my property, chase an innocent man who was scared because of their approach, and shoot my dog from 22 feet away,  not once, but four times?  They didn’t even let anyone have a chance to put him away. All “Buddy” was doing was protecting our home.  The policeman said that he had to hold a lawn chair up to keep him from getting to him.  The lawn chair he was speaking about is made of solid wood.  It is too big and heavy, even for a strong man to hold with one arm and manage a loaded gun.  When in fact the lawn chair never was moved.  The imprints in the lawn were still under the legs of the chair.  The pillow that sits on the chair was also still sitting in place.  If he had picked up that chair the cushion would have fallen off. There is no way that with all the chaos going on could he have perfectly set that chair down in the exact same place as before.  The officer was right next to two huge redwood trees with enormous trunks.  He could have easily run for cover behind one of those trees.  Better yet he could have climbed over the fence without any problems.  There were many alternatives he could have done.  Buddy was not going after him.  My roommate was also right there.  She is a dog handler/trainer.  She has tons of experience handling dogs. She is also certified animal health technician, with knowledge of handling emergency situations with dogs.  She told the police this, and yet they still would not let her even go see if Buddy was still alive.  There was nobody there who checked to see if he had truly passed. This was just an assumption from an inexperienced police officer. A man that has no right to tell me anything in regards to my dog’s condition.  Buddy was rushed to the vet.  His body was still warm.  He passed when he was at the vet.  He was shot through the spine, neck and abdomen.  There was one casing that was never found.

I love animals.  I mean I truly love them.  I have trained horses for most of my life, due to injury I started working with dogs. This passion of mine is what makes me tick.  I rescued Buddy over a year ago.  He was a picture perfect dog. In fact just the night before he was murdered, I was walking through the shopping center and there were five Sheriffs.  I stopped and showed them how well behaved “Buddy” was.  He was taught that uniforms were our friends.  He showed that with love, education and diligence the breed that is so harshly judged can also be such a well behaved, loving pet, companion and to me, my best friend.  We fought, we struggled we learned and then we taught.  Now what I want to know is “What value do you put on a family pet?”  Sure this is a very controversial subject.  There are many that don’t believe that a dog is deserving of these rights….but to those who are truly dog lovers?  To those that have loved and lost a family pet also know the pain it causes to lose a loved one.  To me it’s unbearable.  It has been a month since Buddy was murdered; this is the first time I have been able to actually make it through my testimony.  I want action.  I want the person who shot my loved one to be punished for doing it so carelessly.  I want there to be right to animal’s owner/lovers…that we can protect them in the safety of their own home.  I protected Buddy and he always made sure I was safe.  What happened?  I tried to protect, but the ones who are suppose to protect me, killed him, like it was nothing.  “Your dog is DEAD!!” These words linger in my head every minute, every day.  So carelessly they said that to me. How shallow, how uncompassionate. Aren’t these the men and women who are supposed to keep our community safe?  They don’t care, nor should I say most of them don’t care.  When all this craziness was going on, I looked amongst a crowed of policemen trying to find someone who had some feeling and compassion.  There was one man; he was crying right along with me, he hurt too.  I bet he has a dog that is part of his family.  Why couldn’t he have been the one to go into my yard?  I bet it would have not turned out they way it did if he had.

I would like this to be known to the public.  That this could happen to you.  I need some support on changing the laws in regards to Law Enforcement Agencies being able to enter ones home, putting the family and family pets in danger It is not right and its not fair.  I also need an attorney that can help me represent my case.

You can contact me at (650)720-1134.

moelynch63@gmail.com

Thank you for your time.

Respectfully, Maureen Lynch