On Tuesday night, a pit bull named Duke was shot multiple times by a Clark County Deputy, according to a report by the New Carlisle News. It is the second controversial police shooting in the New Carlisle area this year. NCN photographer and reporter Andy Grimm was shot by a deputy in September. Not many details are available at this time, but through social media we have been able to piece together some possible explanations for what caused the shooting. 

The dog charged the deputy

It is possible the dog charged at the deputy. In that situation, the officer has a responsibility to make it home to his family and is justified in using lethal force toward any threat, man or beast. Take heed, canines: play stupid games, win stupid prizes. For example, if you play fetch, you are probably only going to wind up with a stick or slimy rubber ball. Play smart games like Jeopardy, where you can win money.

The dog’s arousal confused the deputy

When male dogs get excited their penises become bright red and erect. It is plausible that a deputy, already focused on the traffic stop he initiated, could mistake that red rocket for an IED, firecracker, tiny red handgun, or other weapon. Perhaps this dog is a proponent of tough on crime policies and was aroused at the sight of the officer handing out justice.

Police in this area are trigger happy

I find this to be the least likely cause, but it’s been floating around online. It just seems hard to believe that these police are trigger happy because in each case they have explored literally no other options before firing multiple rounds into humans and animals, regardless of visibility, traffic, or having a full opportunity to assess their surroundings.

The deputy intended to shoot a person instead

Take a second and ponder what is more likely: a person or a dog doing something deserving of execution by police? I can tell you right now that it’s the human. Every day humans do horrible things to each other, including their war on police, who are ultimately just humans who are better than all the others (except the troops). Dogs almost never do anything horrible unless a human teaches them to or abuses them. It is entirely possible the deputy was trying to shoot a person and just missed, instead striking the poor pup.

The dog was retrieving a camera and tripod from the back of his Jeep

As we’ve seen, this action is punishable by gunshots. Perhaps the dog was just trying to photograph some nature scenes. It was dark outside at the time of the shooting, so I think it is reasonable that the dog could’ve grabbed a tripod and camera and the deputy, sensing danger since he was preoccupied with the traffic stop, could have just wheeled and fired. We don’t yet know if the pit bull drives a Jeep or knows how to operate a DSLR camera — much less if he has a keen sense of perspective, exposure, or depth of field. But I wouldn’t rule this scenario out.