BEYOND THE DEATH OF A DOG

I read reports in the Salt Lake Tribune that an official investigative board cleared and justified the Salt Lake City police officer who killed a dog while doing a search in the dog’s back yard. 

Of course the board did that – especially since it could not get testimony from the dog. 

It feels like we now find ourselves in a dystopian police-state novel with a plot that has spun off its axis.  This becomes apparent when we consider what should have happened in this troubling incident. 
.
People and their elected leaders must insist on the Constitutional Right that police must get warrants.   That should be obvious.  In this case, It is bad enough  that  law enforcement just searched a backyard for whatever reason, aside from the issue of an officer shooting and killing a homeowner's dog.

Officers should be equipped with bear pepper spray – a non-lethal solution -- in case a home-owner's dog is [understandably] angry or charging officers who have crossed its territory.

There is a bigger issue here for us to consider.   What does it say about government law enforcement, about the advertising pressure we get from weapons manufacturers, and human nature itself that it is socially acceptable to carry and use lethal weapons when we could develop, manufacture, carry and use when necessary non-lethal weaponry.

Guns are not a tool.   Guns are a symbol.   Symbol of power.