“I don’t know how the owner of this deceased dog can be so calm about it! Has anyone ever seen a Golden Retriever act aggressively? I certainly haven’t, in England this breed are like big puppies, whatever their age…Jesus….don’t the police have lights within the sight of their gun targets?? Had it been an aggressive pit-bull charging at them, looking like it was attempting to really harm them; the police may have had concerns about their own well-being & been forced to protect themselves. Having said that, a dog can’t kill with one bite; (unless it’s rabid or bit an artery) the police would have had enough time to act, had it been a vicious dog, whatever the breed! But this poor dog would more likely have just walked up to lick the policeman’s hand, had it been given the chance! It seems to me that the police in America are slightly trigger happy; when it come to confrontation with dogs…but that’s my personal view!!”

A tragic case of mistaken identity has left the dog who belongs to the owner of a former Veterans building in Vallejo, Calif., dead, reported Wednesday’s Mercury News.

A senior golden retriever was shot and killed/NOT TigerT. Preston

The dog, a senior golden retriever, belonged to 83-year-old Ed Boydston, who just bought the building which is located on Alabama Street.

Boydston, a Korean War veteran, was at the newly purchased building in the early evening last Friday; while there, someone phoned the police to report suspicious activity.

Responding police entered the building and called out to announce their presence; Boydston did not hear them, but his dog, “Tiger,” did, and when he approached, he was shot one time.

Boydston told Mercury News what he said to the officer:

I said, ‘Don’t shoot my dog, and I heard very clearly, ‘I just did,’

I kind of feel like the dog tripped a shot for me. It could have been me that was shot. I was 10-12 feet away.”

The officer’s shot to Tiger proved to be fatal; Tiger, described as “sweet,” had been Boydston’s companion for the last eight years.

Following the death of his companion, Boydston said:

I guess they were justified in doing it,

I don’t know about the law, but I guess they had justified rights. Someone reported a burglary.”

News Link:–http://www.examiner.com/article/building-owner-s-senior-golden-retriever-shot-and-killed-by-police