Weighing in
A weekly look at reader comments and reactions to the news
A decision by Kootenai County sheriff’s deputies to shoot a pug running loose on Interstate 90 prompted a flood of reader comments at spokesman.com last week.
Authorities said they tried repeatedly to catch the dog Sept. 25 and shut down traffic in both directions near the Post Falls sewer plant, but that they eventually had no choice but to kill the dog to prevent an accident.
Andy S: Shooting the dog was uncalled for … Ever heard of calling animal control? You see stories on the news all the time of police and animal control catching cats, dogs, foxes, coyotes and all other sort of animals from freeways without shooting them. But no, in North Idaho they cannot catch a pug dog and instead shot it.
Terry MR: If they’d already stopped traffic it doesn’t seem like there was any immediate danger.
Erik_T: They are correct in removing the animal in the manner they did. What most of you are saying is that the life of a human is equal to the life of any animal. …
Richard Carpenter: An animal’s death is tragic but I agree with the decision made. It would have been worse if people had wrecked and been killed because of it. Would there be the outcry if it weren’t a pug but a “mangy mutt”? I own a pug so I was distressed when I read the title of this article, but upon learning the facts, I feel the cops did everything they could to prevent its death first.
OrangeTV: Just another completely uncalled for, ridiculous situation brought about by our thuggish, irrational local cops. Support for their jail bond was already nearly non-existent, and this should really hammer the nail in that coffin. There would have been a plethora of other ways to handle this situation. …
Joker: The situation is regrettable, but I accept what the deputy did to protect people.
Honest George: There appears to be a certain heartlessness in this act of purposely shooting an animal for no apparent reason or for what seems to be a contrived reason at best. … Everybody would have been better served if animal control had been called.
coeurgenx: Those people stopping on a busy highway for no emergency reason are endangering others traveling a busy interstate. It causes rubberneckers and possible serious accidents that kill. If it was a wounded deer or wild animal … it too would be disposed of for public safety.
EagleKeeper44: This all boils down to a public safety and liability issue. The dog was creating a situation where “lookie Lews” could have caused a terrible multi-vehicle pileup. I am convinced law enforcement did the overall right thing.