Buffalo police department have shot dead 73 dogs in three years – with one officer alone shooting more than a third



•           Officers opened fire on 92 dogs since start of 2011, killing the vast majority
•           Figure is more than triple that in Cincinnati, a municipality of a similar size
•           Many shootings were in high-intensity raids and search warrant executions
•           Buffalo does not use non-lethal tools, like spray or Tasers, to control dogs

By ANNABEL GROSSMAN FOR MAILONLINE
Buffalo police have opened fire on 92 dogs since the start of 2011, with 73 of the animals dying from their injuries.
Of these deaths, more than a third were carried out by a single officer.
The alarming statistics were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request for use of force incidents on canines within the Buffalo police department.
Many of the shootings occurred during high-intensity raids and search warrant executions when Buffalo Police may legally use their firearms 'if the officer or another person is in the process of being attacked by an animal and is in imminent danger'.
But the request, which was submitted byWGRZ-TV, shows that Buffalo's figures stand at more than triple the number of dog shooting incidents involving police in Cincinnati, which is a municipality of a similar size.
Cincinnati Police provided the news channel with a copy of its use of force records, showing that officers had shot 27 dogs between the start of 2011 and September 2014
The dogs killed by the department include Cindy, a two-year-old pit bull that was shot dead last year when officers raided an apartment on the city's West Side, looking for drugs.
Buffalo Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda that week launched an internal investigation into Cindy's death, following accusations that the officers had accidentally raided the wrong apartment and should never have confronted the dog in the first place.
Adam Arroyo, an Iraq War veteran, adopted the dog when she was only six months old. He showedWGRZ-TV the remnants of Cindy's chain and toys, as well as bullet holes and blood left behind when the officers fired three times, killing his pet.
'She was friendly,' he told the news channel. 'All the kids in the neighborhood used to come up and pet her. She wasn't a threat.'
In July this year, another incident occurred where Buffalo police shot and killed a pet dog while executing a search warrant, looking for drugs.
During the raid, officers shot dead a 15-month-old pit bull named Rocky, who was described as 'aggressive' in the incident report.
'I pretty much heard the two shots,' said Rocky's owner Ronnie Raiser III, who had just woken in his bedroom when the police entered his home. 'After the first shot, I heard the dog squeal.'
Mr Raiser has filed a formal complaint, alleging excessive force and civil rights violations. He claims the officers raided the property looking for Ecstasy but they only found a small stash of his roommate's marijuana.
'I bawled my eyes out,' he said. 'It's hard. It really is.'
According to the use of force reports obtained by 2 On Your Side, the same police officer involved in the raid of Mr Raiser's home also opened fire on Cindy in 2013.
This single officer shot 26 dogs in a three-and-a-half year span. The reports show that n the years 2011 and 2012 alone, this officer alone killed as many dogs in the line of duty as the entire NYPD.
Buffalo Police Chief of Detectives Dennis Richards told WGRZ-TV that some officers act as the lead for the entry team during raids, which could place certain individuals in position to encounter aggressive dogs more often than others.
'It's a very dangerous job,' he said, 'And per capita, the amount of work that we do, the amount of search warrants executed, the amount of calls answered by individual officers, I think the numbers are what the numbers are.
'Certainly, no officer takes any satisfaction in having to dispatch a dog.'
Unlike other police departments, officers in Buffalo do not use Tasers, spray or other tools to control dogs in a non-lethal manner, and the department does train their officers specifically for canine encounters.
Jim Osorio, a former police officer and an expert on police canine encounters, teaches non-lethal methods for controlling dogs in the line of duty.
Using a live dog, he shows officers how to read dogs' facial expressions, how to approach the animals, and how to use spray, Tasers, batons or other tools to safely fend off a threat.
'I felt the need that police officers need better interaction with dogs on the street,' he said, 'Other than just taking out a gun and shooting them.'
Chief Richards said his department has researched other cities for feedback, and said they would consider using non-lethal tools to contain dogs.

He added: 'It's nothing to be happy about when a dog has to be let go. But, again, we should stress that it's the owners of those dogs. It's the drug dealer that is putting that dog in harm's way.'