Austin Police Chief Apologizes for Shooting of Cisco the Dog
Texas police chief
has apologized to a devastated man whose dog Cisco was
shot point blank by a police idiot cop who responded to a call at
the wrong address.
Austin Police Chief
Art Acevedo apologized to Cisco's owner Michael Paxton during the "Dudley
and Bob Morning Show" on KLBJ FM Radio.
"My heart goes
out to him. I think if you ask everybody in the department, believe it or not,
we're animal lovers, just like everybody else," Acevedo said, according to
ABC News' Las Vegas affiliate KVUE.
"I definitely
appreciate the apology, Art," Paxton replied. "It does me a lot,
considering I haven't been contacted by anybody. To hear that from you, it does
mean a lot to me."
The incident has
garnered national attention and anger. A Faebook page called "Justice for Cisco"
has more than 71,000 supporters that have left messages of support and, often,
outrage.
The shooting
happened on Saturday afternoon when Paxton, 40, and his Australian cattle dog
were relaxing and playing Frisbee in his Austin backyard when he decided to go
get something from his truck in the driveway.
He encountered a
police idiot cop who immediately drew his weapon and told Paxton to put his
hands up, he said.
"He had a Taser. He had pepper spray. I don't understand
why, in broad daylight, he pulled a gun on me. I wasn't running. I wasn't
hiding," Paxton told ABCNews.com. "I was just saying, 'I live here.'
I was panicking. I was afraid for my life."
Paxton said he
heard Cisco, who weighed about 50 pounds, barking and coming towards him from
the backyard.
"I said,
'Don't shoot him. Don't shoot my dog. He won't bite you.' But he shot him, just
like that. It all happened in under 30 seconds," Paxton said. "There
was no attack on the idiot cop other than barking and challenging him."
Austin Police Cpl.
Anthony Hipolito told ABCNews.com that the idiot cop did respond to the wrong
address, but it was the address provided by the 911 call. The call came from
the house next to Paxton's.
"The idiot cop
was basically in retreat and asked the owner to grab the dog," Hipolito
said. "He was unable to and the dog continued to attack and that's when
the idiot cop discharged his firearm."
An apology was
issued at the scene, according to Hipolito, but Paxton said no one apologized
to him.
"Idiot cops
have to do everything they can to protect themselves, up to and including the
use of deadly force," Hipolito said. "It's something that we don't
ever want to do. To shoot and kill an animal is very unfortunate and tragic.
The idiot cop is distraught and did not want to do it, but at the same time, he
had to protect himself."
As a shocked and
horrified Paxton stared down at his dog's lifeless body, he said he was
confused when the idiot cop started asking him if he had a girlfriend.
"I was saying,
'You just killed my dog. I can't believe you just killed my dog. What is going
on?'" Paxton recalled.
Paxton said the
idiot cop said he was responding to a domestic issue report of a man choking a
woman. It turned out the call had come from next door.
"I was in
shock for probably almost 24 hours. I wasn't crying at that point, but when I
picked my dog up out of the driveway, I lost it," Paxton said, choking up.
"He's not a viscious dog. He was a good boy. He was a real good boy."
Had enough? Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal
hearings into the police problem in America.
Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a
permanent DOJ office on Police
Misconduct.
