Forums > Poor Doggy!

Rogue_Ewok

Aug 19 2008, 07:03 PM

QUOTE

Dog's Death Dogs Traffic Cop
Police Said Officer Handled Situation Poorly
By ANDREA CANNING, PATRICK DOHERTY and IMAEYEN IBANGA
Aug. 17, 2008

RSS A San Marcos, Texas, police officer has been accused of inappropriate behavior during a traffic stop which may have lead to a dog's death.

Pet owners were stopped for speeding while rushing dying pet to vet.Officer Paul Stephens spotted driver Michael Gonzalez speeding down Interstate 35 and pulled him over for clocking 100 miles per hour. After a brief pursuit, Gonzalez pulled alongside the highway and emerged from his car, saying, "He's dying."

"Who's dying? Relax," Stephens said as his cruiser's dashboard camera captured the interaction.

"My dog," Gonzalez said during the Aug. 5 traffic stop.

But on the video, Stephens sounded less than empathetic as he berated the driver for putting others' lives at risk as he sped down the highway.

"You're driving down the highway at 100 per hour," he said sternly. "It's a dog, it's OK. You can get another one. Relax."

For 15 minutes, Stephens kept Gonzalez on the roadside.

"He said, 'You need to chill out. It's just a dog.' And I said, 'It's not just a dog; it's my family,'" Gonzalez said.

Missy died as Gonzalez waited for the Stephens to issue a citation.

Though Stephens' supervisors found him not guilty of misconduct, they did agree he handled the situation poorly.

"His world was collapsing. And what the officer says to him, basically, is, 'I don't care,'" said San Marcos police department chief Howard Williams.

I would not have stopped at all. That officer deserves to be fired.

manny-the-dino

Aug 19 2008, 07:11 PM

Omg what a bitch. I would have been pissed at him for stopping me. I would have probably cussed him out or something (although I know that would make things worse).
You can't just "get another dog" expecting everything to be okay. I consider my dogs to be apart of my family.

This makes me think of my dog that died 6 months ago.

karmakiller

Aug 19 2008, 07:13 PM

Hm, the death of a dog or the possible death of a pregnant woman and her children while driving them home. Um, I'm going to bet that the first one would be easier for people to deal with. I don't think the officer should be fired, he was doing his job. Which was stopping a man who wasn't using common sense while he was driving. He should have called someone who wasn't so emotional to drive the dog to the vet.

Rogue_Ewok

Aug 19 2008, 07:13 PM

^ but the dog was dying, they had to go fast. They were almost to the vet, too.

good morning america has the police video, and that officer was really mean. He just kept screaming at the couple. My dog is my baby. I think I'd sue.

queen

Aug 19 2008, 07:23 PM

yah i would've let myself get ticketed @the hospital. in all honesty, i'd rather everyone on the road in front of me die than my dog.

karmakiller

Aug 19 2008, 07:50 PM

It doesn't matter if he was close to the vets office or not. He could've killed someone if he was 500 miles away or 1 block away. 15 minutes to right a citation is a long time, and maybe the dog could've lived. But I don't think that's something that an officer should get fired for or he should be sued about.

Saying that you would let everyone else on the road die instead of your dog is idiotic. I love my dog, a lot. But I would rather have her die peacefully than to cause death and distruction while I was being selfish. Besides, my dog might have a heart attack while I am smashing into other vehicles on my way to the vets.

Edit//

Also, if he was emotional and he was still driving the speed limit, he could've injured someone. He wasn't being a tentative driver.

LoveToMySilas

Aug 19 2008, 08:10 PM

I understand that 100 miles an hour is going fast, but he didn't have to stop him for 15 minutes or make the, "You can get another one." comment. If only things were done differently, like the officer escorting the car to the hospital so that the cars would move the other way.

Tomates

Aug 19 2008, 09:41 PM

if i were that officer i would grab the dog, put her in my back seat, and siren the dog all the way to the vet

Joanne

Aug 19 2008, 09:48 PM

QUOTE(karmakiller @ Aug 19 2008, 05:50 PM)

It doesn't matter if he was close to the vets office or not. He could've killed someone if he was 500 miles away or 1 block away. 15 minutes to right a citation is a long time, and maybe the dog could've lived. But I don't think that's something that an officer should get fired for or he should be sued about.

Saying that you would let everyone else on the road die instead of your dog is idiotic. I love my dog, a lot. But I would rather have her die peacefully than to cause death and distruction while I was being selfish. Besides, my dog might have a heart attack while I am smashing into other vehicles on my way to the vets.

Edit//

Also, if he was emotional and he was still driving the speed limit, he could've injured someone. He wasn't being a tentative driver.

I agree whole-heartedly with you. Yes, the police officer handled the situation poorly and he could have been more sympathetic (and he shouldn't have said what he said)... but he was doing his job. I understand your anger and frustration, but I also understand why the officer thought keeping the nearby civilians (?) safe was more important.

Blyat

Aug 19 2008, 10:03 PM

thats horrible, pets arent just pets the aRE family
that man should of been fired, it really is like letting a child die

i know when my mum saw our family cat dying she went really fast too, i think she even got pulled over and she explained to the cops what was going on and they let her go (im not 100% sure if thats right)

HERE I HAVE THE LINK TO THE VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B72iaBCTgqI

Rogue_Ewok

Aug 19 2008, 11:43 PM

i agree with tomates.

And MissUchiha, I also agree with you. My dog is my son, as weird as that sounds, and i would do anything to save his life.

absinthe

Aug 24 2008, 07:55 PM

I just would have told him to mail that shit to me.

QUOTE

"You're driving down the highway at 100 per hour," he said sternly. "It's a dog, it's OK. You can get another one. Relax."

How incredibly heartless.

hi-C

Aug 24 2008, 08:31 PM

That's horrible. You can't just say "Get another one." That officer should get have to undergo sensitivity training.