Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

His bark wasn't worse than the gun

Pacific Beach dog owner sues police for killing his animal

Burberry
Burberry

Pacific Beach resident Ian Anderson has filed a lawsuit against the City of San Diego and the police department over the March 15, 2015, police shooting that killed Anderson's six-year-old pit bull, Burberry.

On that day, officers went to Anderson's residence on Garnet Avenue at 5:20 a.m. to respond to a domestic assault case in the area. Anderson answered the door and Burberry, a trained service dog who worked with children with Down syndrome, approached the two officers. According to the complaint, as well as media reports of the incident, one officer bent over to pet Burberry. The dog then approached the other officer. The officer began yelling, scaring Burberry. He barked and the officer shot Burberry in the head, killing him.

The incident was captured in a surveillance video.

News of the shooting spread and the incident was covered locally, across the nation, and in the United Kingdom. The Facebook page “Justice for Burberry” was created.

Sponsored
Sponsored

A letter and petition were later posted on Change.org, demanding that cities and police departments across the nation implement additional training for officers in dealing with pets.

"Why are FedEx and UPS employees required to undergo animal training courses, but law enforcement is not?" reads the petition.

"Both FedEx and UPS drivers face many more encounters with barking, charging, scared, and yes — even aggressive dogs — than law enforcement is and are able to successfully deliver mail unharmed and without the use of lethal weapons. As stated above, many Americans have pets in their families. Yet why is it that so few police officers know how to react when they encounter an animal, resorting to the use of deadly force? It needs to stop."

At time of publication, nearly 45,000 people have signed the petition.

Police shootings of dogs and calls for additional training were recently covered in a report this past May from San Diego County's Grand Jury.

The grand jury found that from 2010 to 2014, police officers countywide shot and killed 56 dogs. Members concluded that improved training as well as community outreach could possibly reduce the number of pet shootings.

In the meantime, the San Diego Police Department and other law enforcement agencies will defend lawsuits from owners whose dogs were shot and killed in officer-related shootings.

According to the lawsuit, Anderson "suffered emotional distress, violation of his constitutional rights, and the loss of his sense of security, dignity, and pride as a resident of the United States of America."

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Syrian treat maker Hakmi Sweets makes Dubai chocolate bars

Look for the counter shop inside a Mediterranean grill in El Cajon
Next Article

Escondido planners nix office building switch to apartments

Not enough open space, not enough closets for Hickory Street plans
Burberry
Burberry

Pacific Beach resident Ian Anderson has filed a lawsuit against the City of San Diego and the police department over the March 15, 2015, police shooting that killed Anderson's six-year-old pit bull, Burberry.

On that day, officers went to Anderson's residence on Garnet Avenue at 5:20 a.m. to respond to a domestic assault case in the area. Anderson answered the door and Burberry, a trained service dog who worked with children with Down syndrome, approached the two officers. According to the complaint, as well as media reports of the incident, one officer bent over to pet Burberry. The dog then approached the other officer. The officer began yelling, scaring Burberry. He barked and the officer shot Burberry in the head, killing him.

The incident was captured in a surveillance video.

News of the shooting spread and the incident was covered locally, across the nation, and in the United Kingdom. The Facebook page “Justice for Burberry” was created.

Sponsored
Sponsored

A letter and petition were later posted on Change.org, demanding that cities and police departments across the nation implement additional training for officers in dealing with pets.

"Why are FedEx and UPS employees required to undergo animal training courses, but law enforcement is not?" reads the petition.

"Both FedEx and UPS drivers face many more encounters with barking, charging, scared, and yes — even aggressive dogs — than law enforcement is and are able to successfully deliver mail unharmed and without the use of lethal weapons. As stated above, many Americans have pets in their families. Yet why is it that so few police officers know how to react when they encounter an animal, resorting to the use of deadly force? It needs to stop."

At time of publication, nearly 45,000 people have signed the petition.

Police shootings of dogs and calls for additional training were recently covered in a report this past May from San Diego County's Grand Jury.

The grand jury found that from 2010 to 2014, police officers countywide shot and killed 56 dogs. Members concluded that improved training as well as community outreach could possibly reduce the number of pet shootings.

In the meantime, the San Diego Police Department and other law enforcement agencies will defend lawsuits from owners whose dogs were shot and killed in officer-related shootings.

According to the lawsuit, Anderson "suffered emotional distress, violation of his constitutional rights, and the loss of his sense of security, dignity, and pride as a resident of the United States of America."

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Escondido planners nix office building switch to apartments

Not enough open space, not enough closets for Hickory Street plans
Next Article

NORTH COUNTY’S BEST PERSONAL TRAINER: NICOLE HANSULT HELPING YOU FEEL STRONG, CONFIDENT, AND VIBRANT AT ANY AGE

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader