AIBU to think that something other than killing this dog could have been done?

[NotGonnaAnswerThePhone]

This is such a terrible story and not to be read by the fainthearted.

I understand that the dog could have caused an accident even at 3am when traffic is a lot quieter but surely they could have tranquilised it? Shit, even shooting it would have been more humane than accelerating towards it at such a high speed to ensure the dog would be killed outright.

The interesting thing is that hunts have no sentimentality whatsoever about foxhounds. Puppies surplus to requirements are, according to reports, shot or clubbed to death, as are hounds that are too old to hunt or are otherwise deemed unsuitable. I strongly suspect that if this dog had been returned to the hunt it wouldn't have survived anyway.

I don't feel upset about it at all.

The dog could have caused an accident.

They don't carry tranquilliser darts around with them.

They took a difficult decision To protect the lives of motorists. a person's life is worth more than a dog's life.

I'm sure they took no pleasure in it and feel pretty terrible about having to do it. They are just ordinary people who simply went to work that day and found themselves dealing with a difficult situation.

You can get to be horrified by the circumstances and the awful situation of the dog and the officers.

However you sound daft if you fail up read posts by people who know the road and know the facts.

Unfortunately police work isn't about rainbows and fairy dust. It involves taking difficult decisions and on the spot choices.

But WarmWorm, given that you can't say what the police should have done, how can you possibly say they were wrong? What would your position be if they had done nothing and the dog had caused a serious accident leading to one or more human fatalities?

Owl, it is hunting season at the minute, if that explains why you are seeing the hunt in your area.

We keep horses on a livestock farm, so I know a little of their reactions. You would definitely need an experienced hand.

Alerting a farmer and getting them to come out and shoot a horse or a cow in a stressed state would take time. So they would have to close the road in that circumstance I assume.

Absolutely the fact that human life takes priority, I just think it's a little sad that a dog is less important than a stray horse/deer/cow/ram.

Only my opinion.

It was just a dog.
I think the officers dodging traffic to try and catch it and get bitten for thanks deserve better than the crap they're getting here.

If they had darted it and it had run dozily into traffic = dead anyway.

They could have dodged traffic trying to catch it (with bandages??? or whatever but why should they risk theirs and everyone on the roads lives for a vicious dog? It already bit someone so should be put to sleep anyway.

And do you have any idea how much it costs to close a road?

It was just an out of control dog, Police resources are best directed elsewhere.

Poor dog, and poor police officers :(

I very much doubt they were evil cunts who enjoyed running down a dog. I am sure they tried everything they could with the options available to them at the time.

It's awful but we weren't there so I will trust the judgment of those officers and everyone involved in making that decision .

I think the officers dodging traffic to try and catch it and get bitten for thanks deserve better than the crap they're getting here.

Absolutely. Poor them, having to run over a dog then getting judged for it from people who weren't even there and think they could do a better job.

what U2 said

I'd rather they killed the dog that the dog ran into my car causing me perhaps to kill my family and myself.

Reverse this - family killed because police didn't stop the dog running onto the carriageway..... probably less outrage fgs......

I think they did what was necessary under the circumstances.
Closing any part of the A55 just to catch a dog is a complete waste of time and resources.
First thing my dad told me when passing my drivers test was that if an animal ran in front of my car I was to just hit it. It's swerving to avoid that kills people. If they hadn't of killed the dog it could've caused much more damage. Even if they caught it, it would've been put down.

What a stupid fuss people are making.

Presumably the dog was going to be put down as that's what happens to dogs who bite, isn't it?

Presumably anyone who is bleating about how awful the police decision was, would be quick to complain if the police arrived on the doorstep to say their nearest and dearest was dead, all because they failed to quickly stop a dog that was creating havoc on a busy road?

No one can offer a read only solution for that night given the resources available. By all means spout off your great idea about what could change for a future episode because we all know, money is no object but back off this one. There was no way the road could be closed in time to assure human life is safe before that happened. There was no way the dog could be contained in time to assure human life is safe before that happened.

People just like to get all dramatic and criticise the police, who quite frankly are damned if they do and damned if they don't. Just be glad you're not the poor driver who killed a dog to save human life.

Rant over. As you were.

Warmworm - you accept there was a problem to be solved. You can't think of another solution that wouldn't involve risking anyone's life or risking the dog dying slowly in pain, but are still of the opinion what they did do was the wrong choice, just you can't think what the right choice would be - is that it?

Unfortunately in life, there's sometimes no "easy choice" - this sounds like a case of "pick the least worse option" - I can't think of a better option given the situation, that doesn't mean I don't care that a dog was killed, but sometimes shit things are the best thing to do in the circumstances.

It's clearly not the first thing they tried. Hideous it had to happen, but to me it does seem clear the dog was going to die, so a quick, relatively painless death seems preferable to me than a slow, painful death from a glacing blow from another driver trying to avoid hitting it.

You know nothing about me 10storeylovesong, certainly not enough to make that accusation. There's no need to get personal.

To be fair worm every viable solution wasn't possible and neither you nor Benevolent have managed to suggest an alternative. So, with respect, I can understand 10storey's point. You can't just say something is wrong but not offer a solution. Life doesn't work like that.

Only people think people lives mean more than any other animal's

Really? Tell that to the next crocodile that sees you as a tasty meal. Crocodile definitely sees its survival as more important than yours.

My friend, who has 2 dogs, told me that dogs are quite receptive to "alternative" therapies. Maybe they could have tried to calm it down with some lavender aromatherapy.

.... Are you serious Felicity?

That was a criticism of a professional decision. It was not personal. You cannot possibly extrapolate from my opinion on one situation what my decision making capabilities are. Nor is it relevant.

No.
But no other suggestions were forthcoming.

YABU, the police did the right thing. It can't have been an easy decision and one they didn't take lightly or quickly

warmworm
In stating that they did the wrong thing it is reasonable to assume you have some idea of what the right thing would be.
Otherwise it would be more fitting to say that you were upset by the account, or shocked.