According to an unofficial count done by Ozymandias Media, an independent research group, a dog is shot by law enforcement every 98 minutes.

In an investigative report, it was discovered that a single police department in Buffalo, NY, shot 92 dogs in less than three years. In Southwest Florida, the News-Press discovered 111 instances of dog shootings among multiple agencies between 2009 and 2012, representing about 37 per year. According to the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Police shot approximately 90 dogs per year between 2008 and 2013.

It is an undisputed fact that cops frequently kill dogs.

That being said, when an officer exhibits courage instead of cowardice when confronted by man’s best friend, they deserve recognition. Body cam footage from a Meridian police officer shows exactly the kind of courage and training police officers should possess.

The video was obtained and shared to Facebook by Edith Williams, who thanks the Meridian police chief for the video and helping her cause – a public group called Idaho for Nonlethal Canine Encounters, according to KBOI News.

According to Williams, reports KBOI, the police department sent two officers to a Defensive Tactics Canine Encounters class back in 2014. Officers were taught how to use confidence and “less lethal means” while “keeping the officer, innocent bystanders and the public’s canine companions from harm.”

The cop in the video below, Officer David Gomez, was one of the officers who attended that training. His application of the knowledge obtained through the class was nothing short of astonishing.

As the body camera footage begins, Gomez is responding to a call about two vicious dogs that were roaming the neighborhood. Instead of pulling out his gun and killing the dogs, like most police officers would have done, Gomez applies his training.

Gomez could have easily killed both dogs, and most people wouldn’t have batted an eye, but he chose to preserve life rather than destroy it — and the end result was amazing.

Using only a baton (to distract, not to beat) and pepper spray, Gomez called the dogs over to him as not to put the rest of the neighbors in danger. When the dogs approach him, one is foaming at the mouth, and both of them are very aggressive.

When they try to bite Gomez, he puts the baton in between himself and the dogs which serves as a barrier as well as a distraction. Every time the dogs tried to run away, which would have endangered anyone who was outside, Gomez bravely called them back — and they returned.

At the end of the interaction, Gomez comes up with a perfect plan, and it actually works. The crisis was averted with no bloodshed, and Gomez has shown the world that cops killing so many dogs is entirely unnecessary.

“This has been a true labor of love,” Williams said.

http://www.activistpost.com/2016/06/amazing-body-cam-cop-uses-courage-instead-of-cowardice-when-attacked-by-2-vicious-dogs.html