Thanks Patti for sharing a link to an update on the story of the poodle who was killed for revenge by authorities in Hydro, OK after the owner broke into the pound to free him.
There has been a huge backlash over the incident. Police officer Chris Chancellor has been taking calls from people angry about the unnecessary and cruel killing. He paints the owner, Mr. Fry, as a potentially dangerous man with a history of making threats against police.
Regarding the specific circumstances of the dog’s killing, Mr. Chancellor confirms a city ordinance allows police to kill an impounded pet if not redeemed within 3 days. The chief of police adds the gruesome details:
Hydro’s police chief told a local newspaper publisher the dog was held for three days, placed in a box and killed with carbon monoxide from the exhaust pipe of a police car.
And then the cover-up ensues:
Chancellor said Buddy Tough was euthanized in a “gas chamber” with “carbon monoxide.”
He said the town’s police chief handled the matter and possibly took the dog to a veterinarian in Weatherford.
The town clerk claims she has no record or financial receipt showing the dog was taken to an animal hospital.
The Oklahoman’s calls to the Police Chief Mike “Colonel” Sanders were not returned.
Once again, I have to speak up in defense of this poor dog. To my mind, the owner’s strange and potentially dangerous actions in the past should have no impact on the decision to kill the man’s dog. I don’t care if Mr. Fry was the Unabomber himself, there is zero justification for stuffing this little dog in a box and causing him to suffer a slow, agonizing death by breathing in exhaust fumes from a police car. Tell me the person(s) who did this were not doing it out of revenge. To my mind, that’s exactly what happened and that’s why police are lying and attempting to cover it up now. And that is truly evil.
Will there be any justice?
The three-person town council is scheduled Tuesday to discuss the predicament.
Once more there is proof that Police need to be evaluated for fitness for duty. The officers should be charged with animal cruelty.
Call the Hydro Police Dept and give them a piece of your mind! (405) 663-2242 They answer the phone and even thank you for berating them extensively. Go ahead, make their day. Clog up their phone lines, it’s the least you can do.
Such conduct from a officer of the law. Should not be tolerated, this punishment should have been to the dogs owner not the defensless animal. Shame Shame Shame on so called low life big !big! men of the law. I don’t have any respect for people of any kind that commit curelty to animals, no matter who they are.
Oklahoma, what do you expect??
Well, I “expect” better, but I can’t really say the situation surprises me In the MD/DC area we have a problem with police shooting dogs w/o any justification, and I’ve learned that is actually a pretty big problem, all over the country. Some organizations offer training for police officers to try to help prevent this, but police forces seldom take advantage of it, unless there is an incident and a huge public outcry. Even then, in some areas it does not seem to solve the problem. The police are supposed to be public servants, but many of them just seem to think the public, and their pets are just a big PITA. I will be calling the number provided in the comments above, and letting them know how I feel about this. (Thanks for posting it, Liz!)
I say, “do unto others,” & hold HIM for three days, place HIM in a box and flood him with carbon monoxide from the exhaust pipe of a police car – his OWN car, preferably.
I am NOT saying to kill him; I AM saying to let him get a LITERAL taste & feel of what he did to that poor dog.
This creeps me out because it reminds me of the BTK killer – a serial killer who is now in prison. He was a dogcatcher, and he was annoyed with this woman whose dog he had picked up. She had a certain number of days to pick her dog up, and she desperately tried contacting him so she could pick up her dog, but he was always magically unavailable whevever she tried. At the end of the holding period, he killed her dog because she did not pick it up (she COULDN’T, he blocked her every attempt!). Later, when she confronted him and asked why he killed her dog, he smiled and answered, “Because I can.”
cant they fire this SICK individual? people who hurt animals are VERY dangerous…. lets gas his behind.
THIS BASTARD SHOULD HAVE THE SAME DEATH,MUCH TO GOOD FOR HIM THOUGH, SHOULD SUFFER ENDLESSLY!!!!!
When I call the number left above it says ‘hello, the subscriber you have called is unavailable, please leave a message…beep’.
Who was the officer that stood by listening to what must of been screams of pain coming from this little dog as it slowly asphyxiated? A f***ing psychopath?! Or did they fix it so no matter how hard the poodle struggled he could not get free, then walk away and share a cup of joe together? What happened to the standards of law enforcement? They should be psychiatrically examined yearly if not more to determine they are still fit to serve. We let sadists and sociopaths serve as protectors of the community?! I’m tired of this and it’s everywhere.
I agree, Mr Fry’s character is completely irrelevant when determining whether this little dog should live or die. How can they even offer that as their defense? Well Mr Fry’s a real dingbat so…we figure his dog had to die. Unreal.
This incident is disgraceful and shows that the police officer is unfit for his job. He was no less crazy than the owner and much less admirable. Confused about the way to go about it, at least the owner wanted to get the animal back. This does not speak well for law enforcement in the area and is disgraceful by any standards. Shame on this police officer and anyone involved in the killing for being spiteful, cruel and a despicable human being.
I agree with many comments posted already, not the least of which is that there should be a criminal cruelty charge and the officer’s employment should be terminated.
A quick check of the stats of Hydro confirmed what I believed to be true. This is a small town and while some things are not universal, I can say this about many (but of course not all) small town cops in the state where I live and work – defending counties and small towns: many of the people who work in these positions are unsupervised, unstable and have what I call “The Cowboy Complex.” They are given badges, weapons, authority and power, often with no background screening and with no psych eval. Some of our most outrageous cases have involved small town cops with guns and power. This one is no different to me. I’d bet two dog biscuits that he there was no screening before he was hired and I will not be surprised if there is no real consequence for his actions.
So, Hydro, OK, whatcha gonna do about this mess? Do the right thing: charge him criminally, fire him and develop some standards. Oh, and get rid of the box in the process. That’s just barbaric.