Bad Week For Dogs in the Burbs

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Nov 12, 2008 6:20PM

Good Lord, what a pair of sad stories. First, there's the Park Forest incident where a police officer tracking a burglary suspect wound up shooting and killing a family's dog. Two officers, a detective, and the police dog passed the yard of the Walker family tracking a suspect. The Walker's dog, Princess (a pit bull/shepherd mix), began scratching at the door and, thinking the dog just needed to go out, a boy in the family opened the door for Princess. Princess, however, was reacting to the scent of the police dog and made a fateful move.

Park Forest Deputy Police Chief Mike McNamara said the dog ran toward the detective.

"He was yelling (to Walker's family) 'Get your dog! get your dog!' " McNamara said.

The dog initially went past the detective, then turned and lunged back at him, McNamara said.

"He pulled out his service revolver and (shot) the dog in the head," McNamara said.

[Mother Tracy] Walker said the bleeding dog crawled back into the house, spilling blood everywhere, including on the hands of Walker's two stunned children.

McNamara insists the officer acted properly on an impulse to protect himself. "At that time he had no choice but to shoot the dog. I can definitely understand why a resident would be upset at that. Again, it was unfortunate that they had to put down the dog, but I don't feel he had any choice." The Walker family, however, remains extremely upset about the incident. Said Tracy, "Right now I'm fearful for the safety of my life.I'm afraid for my kids, my property...I'm going to let everyone know that the Walker family is fearful of the Park Forest Police Department at this point."

As if that isn't bad enough, a Buffalo Grove chihuahua was carried off by coyotes. The incident happened in the 200 block of Blackthorn Drive; the dog's owner witnessed the incident and called 911 to report it. And this is another reason why 5th U.S. Congressional District Candidate Franklin Roosevelt remains in indoor dog.

Photo of innocent Chicago canine by Insomnia Jones, J.D.