Kansas mayor who shot, killed dogs gets standing ovation

[proud2BlibKansan]

McCUNE, Kan. | Dozens of residents give a standing ovation to the mayor of a Kansas town who shot and killed two dogs he believed were vicious.

More than 70 people showed up for the McCune City Council meeting Monday night, many of them to show support for Mayor Don Call. He's facing two felony counts of animal cruelty and one misdemeanor count of criminal discharge of a weapon.

Resident Shirley Showalter said "we all should be proud we have a mayor like Don Call that will take care of us and protect our kids."

Police and the mayor himself say he shot the dogs Feb. 1. Call said a neighbor complained that the dogs chased his children.

Crawford County Sheriff Sandy Horton said deputies have received at least four such complaints since July 2008, but none directly from an actual victim of the dogs' alleged aggressive behavior.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/1026570.html?commentSort=TimeStampAscending&pageNum=4&&mi_pluck_action=page_nav#Comments_Container

[valerief]

1. I wonder if they were pit bulls. nt

[flvegan]

6. One was German Shepherd, the other a terrier mix.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. Where did you get that info?

[Arkansas Granny]

14. I found another account here:

http://www.joplinglobe.com/neo_sek/local_story_033210538.html?start:int=0

[flvegan]

20. Here

http://www.kmbc.com/news/18671490/detail.html#-

[valerief]

45. Thanks. Just curious. nt

[zbdent]

2. Yet another VP candidate for Sarah P.

in 2012 ...

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. And I would bet the farm he is a Republican

:)

[MineralMan]

4. I did that once.

A german shepherd attacked an elderly woman walking down the street near my house. Her leg was bitten severely. I heard screams, so I grabbed my shotgun and ran down the street to where the attack was still ongoing. I managed to scare the dog away from the woman, then shot it dead.

There was no question of prosecution. The owner of the dog showed up, but did not confront me regarding his dead animal.

I would do the same again, and in a New York minute.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. This doesn't appear to be that clear cut

Sounds like he may have been operating on rumor and didn't actually SEE what happened.

[MineralMan]

11. I don't know about that. Looks like there will be a court case,

and all the facts will probably be presented there.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. "Call said a neighbor complained that the dogs chased his children."

He didn't actually SEE the dogs attack anyone, according to the article.

[MineralMan]

17. A very short article.

I assume that the entire story will be presented in court.

The way I see it is that repeated reports of unrestrained dogs chasing people, especially kids, must be taken seriously. No doubt, that city has a leash law...virtually every place has such a law. So...whoever is the owner of the dogs is breaking the law in the first place by allowing his dogs to run loose.

Now, if these loose dogs are chasing children, then some sort of action must be taken. Normally, this is done by the animal control folks or, failing that, by the local police department.

Dogs are wonderful animal companions, but must be restrained in some way from running loose in towns. Even the friendliest of dogs can bite or attack, under some circumstances.

As I said, I only have a very short article on this situation. Not enough to understand all of the details of it. Perhaps you have more information. If so, links would be helpful.

I have absolutely zero tolerance for unrestrained dogs in my neighborhood. There are simply too many random dogs on the street, running loose. Here, the animal control people respond quickly, since dog attacks have been a problem.

If you are a dog owner, living in an urban or suburban environment, you must keep your dogs under control at all times. That's the law, and it's a necessary law.

[proud2BlibKansan]

29. Another source:

McCUNE, Kan. — McCune Mayor Don Call said Monday that he shot two dogs on Sunday after receiving a report that they had been aggressively chasing children.

<skip>

Call said he drove to the owner’s house and shot the dogs with a 9 mm rifle as they lay on the sidewalk outside the house.

http://www.joplinglobe.com/neo_sek/local_story_033210538.html?start:int=0

This also is not an urban or suburban setting.

[Mari333]

46. they were lying on the sidewalk???????

then he murdered the dogs, period. asshole.

[misanthrope]

32. Are you in favor of shooting cats as well?...

...They are an invasive species that propagate wildly and cause all kinds of damage.

[MineralMan]

39. Nah. I haven't seen or heard of a cat

killing someone. My cats stay inside all the time. Lots of loose cats around, though. If they start attacking people, then I'll reconsider.

[misanthrope]

43. How about rabbits with big pointy teeth?**nm

**

[Ganja Ninja]

13. If they were my kids and the dogs were not on the owners property and

chasing them I'd shoot them too.

[proud2BlibKansan]

31. He shot them at their house

On the property where one of the dogs lived. They were laying on the sidewalk when he shot them.

http://www.joplinglobe.com/neo_sek/local_story_033210538.html?start:int=0

[hfojvt]

37. so did I, almost

Walking my dogs once, a rottweiler came charging down a fifty yard driveway and started mixing it up with my little 35 pound beagle. I took two shots at his head with a heavy stick I was carrying for defensive purposes and one more shot to his back before he backed off. I guess they were kinda funning because I did not see a scratch on my beagle.

[EstimatedProphet]

48. I was on the receiving end of an attack like that when I was a kid

Idiot neighbor had a crazy German shepard that hated children, and would fly into a rage whenever anyone under 4 feet tall came by. It was horrible walking home from school.

One day I was coming home and the dog wasn't in the yard.

He snapped his chain. He jumped on me and knocked me to the ground, and ripped my leg open. If it weren't for another neighbor who got him and led him off, he may well have killed me.

Maybe it's just me, but that experience tends to color my feelings.

[MadHound]

5. Frankly if I were the owner of the dogs, I'd be standing up and shooting the mayor

Nobody, but nobody hurts my dogs without having to go through me. The man had no basis for shooting the dogs other than hear say evidence.

Oh, hey, on a different note, how about those Tigers last night? M I Z-Z O U!

You knew you would hear from me sooner or later:evilgrin:

[MineralMan]

7. How about in the situation I mentioned, then...

where an actual attack was occurring? Would you really shoot me? I don't think so.

[MadHound]

16. If my dogs were attacking somebody, I'd shoot them myself

But that isn't the case now is it. The mayor got a hearsay report of dogs chasing children, not attacking them. Leaving out the fact that this is hearsay(in other words it could simply be bullshit) the dogs weren't attacking the kids, they were chasing them. Many dogs, especially young ones, will chase people for reasons other than wanting to attack them. Some might do it just for fun, look, young screaming humans, let's chase them and watch them run and scream some more. Furthermore, it has been shown that lifting one's arms is a sure way to get a lot of dogs to either jump up on you or chase you, it's much like the pounce reflex in cats.

The mayor is an idiot and a jerk who took matters into his own hands. I stand by my statement, if those were my dogs, I'd be standing up and shooting the mayor.

Oh, and my dogs aren't going to be attacking or chasing anybody. They are well trained, well socialized, and the only time they would attack is if their lives, my life, the life of my wife were in danger, or if you had come into my house uninvited, especially if I weren't there.

[MineralMan]

21. I see...

You wrote:

"Many dogs, especially young ones, will chase people for reasons other than wanting to attack them. Some might do it just for fun, look, young screaming humans, let's chase them and watch them run and scream some more. Furthermore, it has been shown that lifting one's arms is a sure way to get a lot of dogs to either jump up on you or chase you, it's much like the pounce reflex in cats.
"

What you say is true. Now, here's a question: Why are the dogs you mention loose on the street where they can chase young screaming children? Here's the deal: If I encounter a dog chasing screaming children on my street, and it does not stop that activity on my command, that will shortly be a dead dog. There is absolutely no excuse for a dog being loose to chase those children. I do not have time to determine whether the scared children are in real danger or if the dog is playing.

I will attempt to distract the dog from its game of chase, but if it continues, I will put myself between the dog and the children. If I am armed and the dog continues to be menacing, I will kill it.

If you have dogs that like to chase people, then I strongly urge you to keep that dog confined or on a leash. You'll find others who have my attitude towards loose, agreesive canines.

[MadHound]

23. Gee, have you had a dog before, especially a large dog?

They can get loose in a number of ways, jump over the fence, dig under the fence, climb the fence, hell, I've even known of dogs who could, and did, claw, scratch and chew their way through a door until they were outside. So yes, there are plenty of legit reasons that dogs might be out and about.

Second, you seem to want to take the position, and put words in my mouth, that I'm in favor of dogs chasing children. I thought I made it clear that I'm not, however I was explaining why dogs could, and would chase kids. That doesn't mean I'm in favor of the proposition, I'm not. However I do understand why it would happen. Part of having a dog growing up involved having my parents teach me what sets a dog off. Sadly, it seems that kids aren't taught that anymore.

I would probably do something similar to you, if the dogs wouldn't back off when I commanded, then I would protect the kids with no hesitation ( I supposed you missed that part about me shooting my own dogs if they were attacking a child:shrug:) However like I said, I seriously doubt that would happen, since despite your attempt at mischaracterization, I don't have dogs that like to chase people. I have dogs that are well trained and well socialized.

But this still doesn't take away from the fact that this mayor went out and killed two dogs in cold blood based on hearsay evidence. Do you condone that sort of thing?

[MineralMan]

28. Yup, I have had several dogs, all large breeds.

Not a single one has escaped from the yard. Not even once. You're right. Dogs are great escape artists. That's why I set up my yard to prevent such things. I hate seeing a dog get hit by a passing car because its owner couldn't be bothered to actually make the yard escape proof.

An escaped dog, running loose, does not have a "legit" reason for being loose. It has a lousy owner.

As for this particular case, I said that it will have its day in court, where all the facts will be presented. I never take news stories as evidence in any case.

I did not say that you were in favor of dogs doing anything. This isn't about you. This is about loose dogs menacing people. Do you condone that sort of thing?

[MadHound]

35. Oh those horrible loose dogs, "menacing people"

Geez, they must grow some real vicious monster dogs up there in Saint Paul, because frankly I've never seen a loose dog menacing anybody. Normally they amble down the street, getting into trash and such, but not menacing people. I guess it's a Saint Paul thing:eyes:

[MineralMan]

22. Just to clarify a bit...

I like dogs. What I usually do when I see a dog on the loose in my neighborhood is try to call it to come to me. If it does, I pet it, then clip the tether I have attached to a tree in my front yard to its collar and try to contact the owner to come pick it up. Smart owners have contact information on a tag attached to the collar.

If it won't come to me, I call animal control. If it doesn't have a collar, I have one I can use if the dog is friendly enough. Then I call animal control.

If the dog is a pit bull and will not approach me when called, I call animal control and the police. The police here in Saint Paul respond immediately to loose pit bull reports. There have been a few too many attacks on people by loose pit bulls.

As I said, I have shot one dog in my life, and it was savaging an old lady. I hope I never have to do that again. I'm good at getting strange dogs to stop what they are doing. I'm good at getting them to come to me. But, I would kill any dog that was actively attacking anyone.

I do not tolerate loose dogs. As I said, if possible, I contact the owner. If not, the dog goes to the pound in the animal control truck.

[MadHound]

27. Then frankly sir,

You are a self righteous pain in the ass. I would state it stronger, but I would hate to get this post deleted.

The fact that you turn in loose dogs is not something to pat yourself on the back about. Shit happens, mistakes happen, dogs get loose. You are punishing people who, through no fault of their own, have their dog get loose(which in many cases means the collar is dispensed with also. Having worked at the Humane Society I can tell you that this happens quite frequently. In eight out of ten cases, the dog is simply out running around having fun and will go home soon enough. But you take it upon yourself to turn these dogs in, thus costing their owners time, worry and money. Gee, don't you feel proud of yourself.

The fact that you call the cops on pit bulls just goes to show how little you know about pits and how you, like most of the American public sadly, are biased against them. Oh, not to mention the fact that you could easily be condemning an innocent, sweet loving dog to death. Don't you feel like the big man now:puke:

Finally, be happy that you live in an urban area where it is easy to be an anonymous ass like this. I live in the country, and dogs run loose around here all the time and don't disturb anybody or anything. If you came out here with your penchant for calling AC, you would wind up being very unpopular out here and you could expect retaliation for your actions. Such shit isn't anonymous out here, nor would it be tolerated.

Sounds to me that you either really don't like dogs, or simply have an unreasonable fear of them. That's fine, just don't be projecting that shit on me or my dogs.

[MineralMan]

30. Well, then. I guess you told me.

Dog owners have to obey the law. So do I. There it is.

[MadHound]

34. No mercy or compassion from you, eh Javert

Must suck to be missing those from your soul.

[Bake]

41. There are a lot of irresponsible dog owners who never keep their pets fenced in.

They just let them run loose, all the time.

Bake

[ferrous wheel]

44. I don't belive a word of your claims. I live way out in the country and it's standard procedure to

shoot stray dogs. We do it to spare them the usual fate of being road kill or starvation. And claiming that loose dogs don't disturb anybody or anything is probably the most ignorant thing I have read in years.

[MineralMan]

50. Thanks.

I used to work part-time at a cattle ranch in California when I was in high school. The owner of that ranch said that he had to shoot about a dozen dogs every year that were going after calves. The ranch had one border with the small town I grew up in.

Folks who deal with livestock have no truck at all with loose dogs. It's just too expensive to have them kill their young livestock.

[ferrous wheel]

51. I hope I did not give the impression we dislike dogs...we love them

when they're bonded with people and are cared for. We are on our 6th "adopted" dog and 2nd cat since we moved out here
13 years ago. (I don't mean we have 6 right now, some have since died but not from starvation or being hit by cars) We
always pay to have them neutered, get shots and any vet care they need. Also a very large percentage of other people out here do the same thing but it just isn't possible to take in every single stray and there is no "pound' or animal control in the county.
(They would just euthanize them anyway if there was one)

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. LOL only 2 points Dude!!

And IIRC, there will be at least one more game :)

[MadHound]

18. Two points is as good as a couple dozen

Hell, would have been more but the Tigers were shooting cold as ice in the first half. It was their defense that kept them in the game.

There will be one more game here in a few weeks, probably decide who is first/second or second/third in the conference.

Fun game though

[tularetom]

15. Normally I'd be outraged at a story like this

but there are a lot of details missing from the article. Were the dogs in the act of chasing or terrorizing some little kids when the guy shot them? Had they bitten anybody in the past? Had the dogs owner been cited or even warned?

I love dogs. I have three of them here that mean the world to me. When I read stories of animal cruelty my reaction normally is that I'd like to see the bastard strung up by the balls. But I would not hesitate one second to shoot a dog that was threatening one of my grandkids or my little great granddaughter.

[proud2BlibKansan]

33. No he was just operating on rumor

http://www.joplinglobe.com/neo_sek/local_story_033210538.html?start:int=0

[TwilightGardener]

19. Yanno, that's just not stand-up-and-cheer worthy. Even if he was justified (and

that's hard to tell, from the article), it's not really something to be whooping about--it's sad.

[AndrewP]

26. Mouth breathers love to cheer about things though. It makes them happy.

[petronius]

24. How does he only get one count of "discharging a weapon"?

(I know, it's probably 'per incident' not per shot, but it sounds funny).

I'm wondering if there isn't something very personal going on between the neighbors (inc. the mayor) and the dog owner. If the dogs were so dangerous that they needed to be killed without due process, I find it very odd that there were no complaints from victims of direct dog attack.

The article is sketchy, but it doesn't even sound like the mayor was intervening in an attack, it sounds like he decided they needed to be euthanized so he went and did it. Lot's more info is needed, but I wouldn't be surprised if this guy is way in the wrong...

(Now I'll go read those links upthread to find out if I'm just babbling nonsense. :))

[proud2BlibKansan]

52. Maybe he's an expert marksman

LOL

[doodadem]

25. People lie.

Especially people with an axe to grind.

Our idiot neighbors tried to talk a judge into having all of our dogs put down--a cross-bred Borzoi pup, an old Saluki, and an older miniature Dachshund, claiming they had attacked her. The real story, we have been in an epic land war for the past several years, and these people are always looking for any way they can to hurt us.

This woman had been tramping around on my property all afternoon, while my dogs barked at her. When my husband came home from work, and opened the gate to drive into the main yard, the dogs ran out the gate to finally go make the acquaintance of this woman. The two older dogs stopped half way down the driveway when I told them to. The pup ran on down to where she was, tail wagging furiously. When I went to retrieve her, the woman was talking to her and petting her. There was absolutely nothing wrong with this woman.

A week later, we get notice from our atty. that she has filed another lawsuit against us, claiming all 3 dogs mauled her, and she went back home dripping blood and traumatized. In deposition, our atty. asked, did you go to the emergency room? "No". Did you go to your doctor? "No". Do you have any proof whatsoever, any pictures, anything to support your claim? "No".

So when the judge would not do what she wanted, she had one of her minions come back a few months later, and poison our old Saluki, who died convulsing in my arms. Our insurance co. paid her $7K just to hopefully make her go away. All it did was embolden her to try more.

[proud2BlibKansan]

36. We had to get rid of a puppy once

The kid across the street came over and poked a stick at him through the fence. The puppy growled at him and he ran home crying to his mom. She called the city, animal control came and told us to get rid of the dog.

It was 20 years ago and it still blows my mind. The puppy was inside a fenced yard.

And it was a mixed beagle breed, not a pit or any other 'dangerous' breed.

[TwilightGardener]

38. What an awful story. And you're right, neighbors and enemies will

use pets to cause trouble--one of my neighbors got in trouble for his dog causing problems and not having his dog licensed, so he said, "I'll bet my neighbor's dogs aren't licensed", so they looked us up and nope, we had forgotten to get our dogs licensed. We took care of it, of course, and that was our fault that we originally didn't, but the neighbor just tattled on us for spite.

[chatnoir]

40. Wtf, this isn't the Wild Wild West

Some mayor playing sheriff-in-town goes and shoots two dogs laying on a sidewalk dead based on rumor/hearsay??

If those were my animals I'd be suing his sorry pretend-cowboy ass.

edited for typo

[proud2BlibKansan]

42. Saw the guy on the news

Looked like a dirty old cowboy.

So maybe it is the wild wild west. LOL

[Vattel]

47. I confess that I hate most Kansans.

(proud2BlibKansan not included) Nice to get that off my chest.

[proud2BlibKansan]

49. I was going to say you would probably like me

:rofl: