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Police Defend Actions After Pit Bull Shooting

By Beacon Staff

A Kalispell policeman shot and killed a pit bull terrier on the west side of the city last week, after the officer said the dog took an aggressive posture toward him. The incident marks the fourth time in the last 13 months that a local officer has shot a pit bull – and it has the police concerned that dog attacks in the city could be increasing. Yet others question whether the Kalispell Police Department – currently lacking an animal warden due to funding cuts – is equipped to discern between a dog that is dangerous and one that is docile.

Kalispell Police Chief Roger Nasset said his department usually receives 38 reports of vicious dogs in an average year. But so far this year, police have already received 33 calls, and he emphasizes these are coming from the public, not law enforcement.

“Those aren’t our definitions, those are actual calls from the community,” Nasset said. “It’s not us judging that; it’s the community judging that.”

Nasset isn’t sure what’s causing the increase, and he is currently compiling data on which dog breeds the department receives the most calls about. He acknowledges, however, that killing four pit bulls in a little over a year, “is an unusual trend for us,” and said a perceived increase in the city’s pit bull population in recent years has tended to make the dog attacks that do occur more dangerous.

In two of those cases, the dogs had already attacked someone by the time officers arrived on the scene. In August 2008, a pit bull attacked an elderly woman and ripped off her ear. In June of this year, a pit bull chased a man into the flatbed of his truck in the parking lot of the Outlaw Inn and attacked him. Nasset believes it’s possible those attacks could have been fatal had the Kalispell Police not arrived on the scene quickly and added that the injuries sustained by these victims from pit bulls were more severe than most other dog attacks in the department’s history.

“Their attacks are definitely more vicious,” Nasset said.

But the owner of the dog killed Aug. 12 does not believe his female pit bull, Kona, acted aggressively toward the officer, based on the dog’s personality as well as a neighbor’s testimony who says she witnessed the shooting. Cameron Fredrickson said he plans to file a lawsuit against the Kalispell Police over the shooting. He has also started a Web site, mykona.org, dedicated to “fighting to stop ignorance and educate people about pit bulls.” The site features the testimony of a witness disputing that the dog acted aggressively toward the police.

“I think the officer was completely out of line,” Fredrickson said, adding that when it comes to handling dogs, “I believe the Kalispell Police Department is not trained at all.”

Kona and Fredrickson’s other pit bull, Scrappy, escaped the backyard through a loose fence post the day of the shooting, Fredrickson said, and he left his job immediately to return the dogs to the backyard upon finding out they were loose. But by then, Kona was already dead, after being shot three times, according to an autopsy. Fredrickson believes what the officer interpreted as signs of aggression in Kona by the officer who shot her were, in fact, signs of a submissive posture.

“They need training and they need to understand dogs and how they work,” he said.

Kirsten Holland, director of the Flathead County Animal Shelter, said the dog has always been well behaved and well socialized with attentive, involved owners. She said she recognizes the dangerous situations officers face when confronting a potentially vicious animal, but wonders whether Kalispell Police sufficiently take into account the value of a dog’s life in certain situations – particularly if it is a pit bull.

“I’m concerned that Kalispell Police officers do not have the training and, more importantly, the intent to protect both the community and the community’s property,” Holland said. “It’s very possible that a submissive dog was killed.”

But Nasset, noting that he owns two dogs himself, defends his officer’s actions, saying that when faced with a decision as to a dog’s intention, the police must err on the side of protecting the community and themselves.

“If we have any dog that appears vicious toward our officers, I will not risk the safety of our officers so they can put themselves in harm’s way,” Nasset said. “I don’t expect my officers to know how to talk to every one of these dogs.”

The most recent shooting raises an issue many larger cities have been grappling with for more than a decade: whether pit bulls are inherently more dangerous than other dogs.

Nasset said the trend of pit bull ownership has only just reached Montana in the last few years, and both he and Holland agree that the reputation of pit bulls as a potentially dangerous breed perpetuates itself the more the dog attacks are in the news.

“The media sensationalizes whenever it’s a pit bull because that’s the breed of the moment in a lot of low-income communities,” Holland said. “I understand the current frenzy about pit bulls because that’s what I see reported.”

Because she has seen an increase in all breeds coming into the shelter, Holland couldn’t say whether she has seen an increase in pit bulls there.

“We have to stop picking on this breed,” she added. “The more we talk about them as dangerous, the more appealing the breed becomes to someone who wants a powerful, dangerous dog.”

Nasset said in two of the pit bull shootings prior to the most recent, two owners of the dogs had criminal backgrounds, and one of the dogs had been trained to attack men in uniform.

“It’s disgusting,” Nasset said. “That is completely irresponsible ownership.”

Responsible pit bull owners who train and socialize their dogs, then, suffer the stigma associated with the breed.

“I don’t feel that there’s a problem with pit bulls; I feel there’s a problem with irresponsible owners,” Holland said.

Until Kalispell once again has an animal warden, Holland said she hopes some arrangement can be worked out where the Flathead County animal warden can contract in the city. Nasset, meanwhile, planned to meet at a work session this week to review the city’s dangerous animal ordinances. He is suggesting a citizen panel composed of veterinarians, dog trainers and other experts to submit opinions to the city court as to whether suspect animals should be considered vicious. Another suggested ordinance would place restrictions on an animal determined dangerous, mandating that the owner be above age 18, and outlining how the animal must be fenced and restrained.

In the aftermath of Kona’s shooting, however, it remains unclear whether such ordinance changes can quell the concerns of Kalispell’s pit bull owners or the police who are tasked with corralling the dogs when they escape.

“The last thing that we ever want to do is to shoot a dog when we have any other choice,” Nasset said.