Pet Owner Seeks Damages in Police Shooting of Dog
Roy L. Glass sent a certified letter to the city of St. Petersburg Monday, saying he will sue for monetary damages over the loss of his pet, if the city cannot reach a settlement. He plans to donate the money to animal charities.
The owner of an elderly Golden Retriever that a police officer fatally shot sent a notice of claim to the city of St. Petersburg Monday that he intends to file a lawsuit seeking damages for the loss of his pet.
Pet owner Roy L. Glass, who is an attorney, said in the certified letter that his claim is over the “senseless shooting and killing of our 12-year-old Golden Retriever by Officer Misty Swanson…”
On Oct. 3, police responded to an animal complaint in the Old Northeast neighborhood. Boomer had pushed through a broken gate and wandered one street away from the Glass home. He was lying on a neighbor's front porch when officers arrived after midnight. Swanson said the dog lunged at her. She shot and killed Boomer.
Police Chief Chuck Harmon ruled last week that the shooting was justified but also changed police policy on responding to animal complaints. Officers will no longer respond to calls unless the animal poses an immediate danger to humans. Officers also will get catch poles to use.
Glass said by phone Monday that it was not enough. “I felt that we had no other choice after the police chief announced that the shooting was justified,” said Glass.
He questioned Officer Swanson's statements to an internal police review board that Boomer tried to attack her, whch prompted the fatal shooting.
“That just would be completely out of character for him,” Glass said. The elderly dog had arthritis and a thyroid condition.
"They could have just let Boomer go and he would have walked home," Glass said. "He had a collar and tag on."
In the letter sent Monday, Glass urged the city to contact him to reach a “mutually satisfied settlement,” which he will donate to animal protection groups and for law enforcement officers to be trained in handling dogs.
Glass said in the certified letter that he will file a lawsuit if he does not get a satisfactory response.
Glass said in a phone interview that he believes that Florida law is not entirely clear on whether a person can get damages in excess of replacement value of a pet that is injured, maimed or killed.
Glass said that he and his family have suffered emotionally by the shooting death of Boomer, who shared their home in the Old Northeast neighborhood.
Glass said he is not seeking a specific amount of money at this time. He said he does hope to keep the issue alive. Glass plans to seek a law change in the Florida Legislature enabling pet owners to be compensated for non economic damages.
The law change would recognize the grief for pet owners when their animals are unjustifiably hurt or killed.
Meanwhile, a Facebook campaign has sprung up to call attention to police shootings of pets nationwide. The pages is named for Boomer, and includes YouTube videos, media coverage and a petition drive calling for more humane treatment of pets by police.
"The St. Petersburg Police Department has in my view a problem that they continue to perpetuate," Glass said. "They cover for their police officers. I will be looking at how many shootings were found to be 'justified' or 'unjusitifed' over the years.
"Until they get over this problem, there will continue to be unjustified shootings of pets and human beings that are ruled justified, when it is just a whitewash."
Forest
6:18 pm on Monday, November 21, 2011
I fully support the Glass family in this. Being the owner of an aging dog, I can say with some confidence that they would probably prefer their dog to a few thousand dollars. It would be nice to see Mr. Glass, or the city, make some community wide gesture with a financial recovery to start some animal services fund in Boomer's name. Or something. Hey, the community has been very good to Chief Harmon and to Mr. Glass. Now is the time for healing and education.
Michael Blott
7:51 pm on Monday, November 21, 2011
Not to minimize the loss of Boomer, but I have had it with police false reporting and it being overlooked. This effects everyone.
Deborah Mahoney
11:12 am on Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Good for Mr Glass. I feel that this shooting was unjustified. This officer should be fired. and the Police should not be covering for each other.
Robert
2:45 pm on Tuesday, November 22, 2011
I'm sorry, but does anyone think about the fact that the dog was wandering the streets for who knows how long, because nobody wrote about that. My sister was attacked by a neighbors dog that "would never do anything like that" and still has scars because of it. Would you have preferred the officer left the dog on the streets and it attack someones child who couldn't have defended themselves? this would be a completely different story had that happened. I can see the headlines now...Officers poor decision leads to vicious dog attack...How about the owners take some responsibility and keep their dog properly contained and this never would have happened. These men and women are on the streets everyday protecting us and every chance we get we deface them. This doesn't really seem as much about their dog to me as it does about money and greed. If they cared that much about the dog in the first place they would have fixed that spot in the fence that their old arthritic dog seemed to be able to push out.
Michael Blott
3:20 pm on Tuesday, November 22, 2011
The dog "escaped" from it's backyard to play with a neighbor dog. Out for a few hours at most. No one feared the dog except the Police officer that would not leave the dog alone and should have called animal control ( as the new policy states). The dog did not hunt her down or go out of it's way to be aggressive. The owner could have done a better job in hindsight, ( now knowing how it escaped) mistakes happen. A death sentence for being out is a bit much. Honest dedicated cops deserve our respect and support. Read the police report and determine for yourself if she is one of them.
FlaBarBrat
11:26 am on Friday, November 25, 2011
I definately have to stand up for Boomer! Even if the dog did growl or act agressive in any way, why wouldn't the cop use mace or one of the other weapons that cops have on them? If an old dog barking at her made her so scared that she felt she had no other option but to pull her gun out and shoot Boomer, just think about how quick she would be to pull that triger on an actual person that was giving her a hard time. Also, cops are trained when they fire there gun to shoot twice, boom boom. Because the person they are shootting at are trying to hurt them or some one else. They are in fear for there life or some one elses life. Thats why they are trained to shoot two shoots and not just one. I Bet she only pulled the triger once. Which to me would prove she wasn't in fear for her life.
mike
12:01 pm on Friday, December 2, 2011
I am a retired NYC Police Sergeant and now work as a general surgeon in the area this occurred. This is nothing short of a crime. This Misty Swanson clearly SHOULD NOT be a police officer. It is also interesting to note that a survey of info available online reveals a chat log from a chat room used by St Pete Police. In it, they state that she is basically a joke with a uniform on. She also has involvement in prior shooting events. She she be arrested for animal cruelty, but at the least, she should be fired.