Police threaten to shoot wild dogs in Alaska town

February 20, 2010 By: Krisha Williams Turbeville Category: Animal cruelty laws, Cruelty watch, Dogs, The Dog House

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BETHEL, Alaska — Police in this southwest Alaska city will seek authority to shoot dogs on the spot unless residents do a better job of keeping their pets from running wild.

Fed up with reports of dogs biting people, police have already started giving tickets to those with roaming dogs. If that doesn’t convince citizens to keep their dogs on leashes, Chief Larry Elarton said he will ask city council to impose an emergency law allowing officers to shoot to kill.

“We’re going to zero tolerance, unless the owner is actively looking for a dog, or they call it to us and report it, or there’s some other extenuating reason,” Elarton said. (more…)