Post by Die Fledermaus on Apr 26, 2004 5:22:08 GMT -4
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>> A dead dog, an exhumation and a fired cop: the uproar over Whiskers
By: North County Times -
TAMAQUA, Pa. (AP) ---- Police officer Scott Michalesko thought he was being humane one cold January evening when he shot and killed Whiskers, a 15-year-old schnauzer hit by a car one frigid January evening.
Not everyone agrees. The dog's outraged owner complained, residents questioned Michalesko's judgment and his superiors began an investigation. A few weeks after Whiskers' death, the dog was exhumed for the animal version of an autopsy.
Debate swirled in rural Rush Township, about 70 miles northwest of Philadelphia: Could this dog have been saved?
After a series of disciplinary hearings, township officials concluded Michalesko had acted recklessly and fired him. Whiskers' owner is preparing a lawsuit.
Now the veteran police officer is suing to get his $14.42-an-hour job back in a case his attorney calls "ridiculous" and "bizarre."
"It was 4 degrees out, the dog was pretty much freezing and wasn't able to move, and (Michalesko) just used his best judgment," said the attorney, David Washington.
Whiskers' owner, Nancy Meiser, thinks otherwise. She points to a necropsy report that showed the dog to be in perfectly good health when Michalesko shot him. The officer should have tried harder to find the dog's owner ---- or at least taken him to an animal hospital, she said.
"I'm still sick over it," said Meiser, 49, who adopted Whiskers about five years ago.
The incident occurred on Jan. 10, when Whiskers wriggled loose from his chain behind the home Meiser shares with her 84-year-old father.
Michalesko, on patrol, got a call from a dispatcher that a dog had been hit. He found the animal about 10 feet from the road, lying down and not moving much, he said.
He called in the numbers on the dog's collar, but a technical error prevented the 911 center from determining the name of the owner.
Michalesko said he also knocked on a few doors nearby without success and asked 911 dispatchers whether there were any 24-hour animal hospitals in the area, but was told there were not.
Although the schnauzer was not mangled or bleeding, Michalesko says he believed the dog's back or hip was broken.
Michalesko said he prayed and then shot the dog with one round, petting it as it died, "so it would know there is somebody there with it," he said.
Meiser, who was out to dinner when Whiskers got loose, said she searched frantically for the dog that night and the following day. She was at work the third day when her father called with the news that Whiskers had been killed by a police officer.
Residents packed the monthly supervisors' meeting a few weeks later, demanding answers. A distraught Meiser stood up and read a statement. "What gives this officer the right to take another life?" she asked.
Township solicitor Paul Domalakes admits to being nonplussed by the Whiskers affair.
"It blows me away," he said. "I was in my first day on the job, show up at my first township meeting, and there's TV cameras and everything else there for Whiskers. I thought, 'For heaven's sake.'" <<
>> A dead dog, an exhumation and a fired cop: the uproar over Whiskers
By: North County Times -
TAMAQUA, Pa. (AP) ---- Police officer Scott Michalesko thought he was being humane one cold January evening when he shot and killed Whiskers, a 15-year-old schnauzer hit by a car one frigid January evening.
Not everyone agrees. The dog's outraged owner complained, residents questioned Michalesko's judgment and his superiors began an investigation. A few weeks after Whiskers' death, the dog was exhumed for the animal version of an autopsy.
Debate swirled in rural Rush Township, about 70 miles northwest of Philadelphia: Could this dog have been saved?
After a series of disciplinary hearings, township officials concluded Michalesko had acted recklessly and fired him. Whiskers' owner is preparing a lawsuit.
Now the veteran police officer is suing to get his $14.42-an-hour job back in a case his attorney calls "ridiculous" and "bizarre."
"It was 4 degrees out, the dog was pretty much freezing and wasn't able to move, and (Michalesko) just used his best judgment," said the attorney, David Washington.
Whiskers' owner, Nancy Meiser, thinks otherwise. She points to a necropsy report that showed the dog to be in perfectly good health when Michalesko shot him. The officer should have tried harder to find the dog's owner ---- or at least taken him to an animal hospital, she said.
"I'm still sick over it," said Meiser, 49, who adopted Whiskers about five years ago.
The incident occurred on Jan. 10, when Whiskers wriggled loose from his chain behind the home Meiser shares with her 84-year-old father.
Michalesko, on patrol, got a call from a dispatcher that a dog had been hit. He found the animal about 10 feet from the road, lying down and not moving much, he said.
He called in the numbers on the dog's collar, but a technical error prevented the 911 center from determining the name of the owner.
Michalesko said he also knocked on a few doors nearby without success and asked 911 dispatchers whether there were any 24-hour animal hospitals in the area, but was told there were not.
Although the schnauzer was not mangled or bleeding, Michalesko says he believed the dog's back or hip was broken.
Michalesko said he prayed and then shot the dog with one round, petting it as it died, "so it would know there is somebody there with it," he said.
Meiser, who was out to dinner when Whiskers got loose, said she searched frantically for the dog that night and the following day. She was at work the third day when her father called with the news that Whiskers had been killed by a police officer.
Residents packed the monthly supervisors' meeting a few weeks later, demanding answers. A distraught Meiser stood up and read a statement. "What gives this officer the right to take another life?" she asked.
Township solicitor Paul Domalakes admits to being nonplussed by the Whiskers affair.
"It blows me away," he said. "I was in my first day on the job, show up at my first township meeting, and there's TV cameras and everything else there for Whiskers. I thought, 'For heaven's sake.'" <<
No, I don't think the officer was right about shooting the dog. He should have least attemped to find an animal hospital around to take the dog too. Or he could've called for help if he was afraid to pick up the dog to cause more injury to it. I don't think thats right, but I'm not sure if it calls for a law suit. He only did what he thought was humane, which like your article states, most people thought it was cruel. 
