Would you sue the police department?

So, I’m cleaning house in preparation for family arriving tomorrow, when I hear two loud, “BAM! BAM!” outside in the neighborhood. I slowly walk to the window to look out but smart enough to not stick my head out. Could that be a really loud nail gun being used by the construction workers down the road? Then I hear it again, “BAM!” about 20 seconds after the first two. That doesn’t sound like fireworks either- should I hit the floor? Now I’m worried, Rob has been out walking with his headphones on and it’s been awhile. So I go out to see if anyone else is coming out of their house. Nothing moves, just a bird flies above me. So I go back in the house.

A few minutes later Rob comes in, sweating & agitated, “the police just shot a German Shepherd down the road! He had been menacing some construction workers and the police shot the dog with a huge shotgun!” My first instinct was, “was anyone hurt? [forget the dog!]” See, I was attacked and bit by a Doberman the size of a small cow when I was young, so I lean towards defending the humans. I couldn’t believe it though! That’s probably the most exciting thing that’s happened in our neighborhood in the last 3yrs that involved the police- probably the most exciting thing in our small hole-in-the-state city this whole year! When Rob walked by, the construction workers were clapping and cheering that the dog was down. By the way, Rob never heard the shots (darn those ipods)- but he saw the men clapping and thought, “now why would they be doing that?” They stopped him and told him the scoop, and how one of them had to hit the dog with a bucket to defend himself.

I feel sorry for the dog, don’t get me wrong, and sorry for the family when they get home and see their dog is gone (ouch). But as soon as Rob said what happened, I knew exactly what dog he was talking about. That dog is the reason I no longer go out walking/jogging in my neighborhood. He’s mean, ugly, menacing, lived on the backyard without a fence, didn’t like you walking by, and the chain that held him to his doghouse didn’t make me feel safe (did I tell you the Doberman that bit me ALSO had a chain leash and he broke it and charged at me?). My legs would start shaking when I walked by and Rob would just laugh at me- if you’ve never been bit by a dog, you don’t understand people! 🙂

So I’m wondering now, do you think the family will sue our small town police department?

I might just take a walk this afternoon *sigh*.

~Inés