Target: Lewis S. Walker, Sheriff for Crawford County, Georgia
Goal: Fire officers responsible for shooting a man’s dog and then forcing the owner to decapitate him.
A sheriff’s deputy shot a beloved family dog, named Big Boy, after he had bit a neighbor and reportedly lunged at the officer. To make matters worse, when the dog’s owner arrived on the scene, another investigator ordered the man to behead his dog so that his brain could be checked for signs of rabies. When owner Joe Goodwin refused to comply, the officers threatened to place him under arrest.
The incident was filmed and appears to show the investigators intimidating Goodwin and threatening to send him to jail for refusing to decapitate his own recently slain dog. Although Goodwin did use profanity, it is understandable that he was distraught over the loss of his companion. Many have agreed that the investigator’s request was entirely unreasonable, as only a trained veterinarian should attempt to perform this procedure.
The investigators shown in the video appear to show a complete lack of remorse for both the dog’s death and his owner’s distress. No animal owner should be forced to dismember their pet under the threat of going to jail. Sign this petition to demand that these officers be relieved of their duties if they are found guilty of wrongdoing.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Sheriff Walker,
An officer appears to have threatened to arrest a man when he refused orders to decapitate his own dog. The pit bull mix, named Big Boy, was killed after he reportedly bit a neighbor and lunged at a sheriff’s deputy. While it is deeply unfortunate that this animal died, and the circumstances surrounding the shooting must be investigated, what happened next is unthinkable.
The dog’s owner, a man named Joe Goodwin, was intimidated by investigators on the scene who appear to have forced him to behead his own dog to check for rabies. This behavior is unprofessional, and should never be expected of an animal’s owner. Only a veterinarian has the skill and training to perform such a procedure. We, the undersigned, demand that you investigate these events thoroughly and have these officers permanently relieved of their duties if these allegations are true.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Almonroth
The dog attacked someone & they took the head to send off to the State for Rabies testing. Its the only way, gotta have an intact head. The man probably failed to vaccinate his dog in the first place! Also, the dog was aggressive & should not have been able to get out! What if the dog ripped a childs face off! The owner should have been allowed to take it to the vet to have the Doc remove the head, maybe the owner refused to pay for that too! The owner failed to care for the dog with proper training & a 7$ Rabies Vaccine!!!
BTW, I was a Vet Tech for 10 yrs, I know what Im talking about & Ive seen alot of crappy people neglect their pets! Before getting the cops in trouble, find out why the owner did the beheading. That may have been the only choice. He may have been left with a choice of getting sued by the neighbor or sending the head to the State Lab! No one can “Force” you to cut a head off of a dead dog. Remember to vaccinate for Rabies! Vaccinate your dogs, cats, horses, etc!
Angela, I agree with you on certain aspects of your comments. The man didn’t properly secure his dog and he was allowed to roam and bite, not just that day, but on at least one other occasion. However, the petition is about the police insisting the dog’s owner do the decapitation, take him to a vet to have it done (which he stated he could not afford) or go to jail. As a vet tech, you should know that when doing this procedure when there is a question about the animal being rabid, a person should be wearing protective gear, of which the dog’s owner had none. Personally, I would have gone to jail and worked out the rest in court. No one could ever compel me to butcher my dog!
Total agreement
Absolutely right. These officer’s were dead wrong!!
No one can force you? Have you had ANY interactions with a stubborn cop who won’t listen to a thing you have to say? I have and after my experience, I freaking believe aggressive cops are out there (and again, not all, obviously). Yes the dog attacked someone and that’s bad but the point is Hollis DID NOT have the right to demand the owner to cut his dog’s head of. That is the most RIDICULOUS thing I have ever heard, and if I were him, I wouldn’t gone to jail for assaulting the cop.
would’ve*
First of all a owner should not be forced to behead there own dog that dog could have been taken to a vet to have it donethe cops are disgraceful
I don`t care what this dog did. these officers abused their authority in ordering the owner to cut his dog`s head off. there is a right way and a wrong way to go about this and they went about it the wrong way.
so that makes what the investigators did right? I think not. tat was a sick thing they did and was an abuse of their position and they should be punished severely for it.
Actually the dog was vaccinated but they refused to let him go home and get it.
That’s even worse! Coos just didn’t want to be bothered! No excuse!
This officer needs to be in jail officer are to help not encourage things like this.Shame on him but let’s do the same thing to him but.a slow death in front of his family and make them in distress and let’s check his.brain for things cause something differently wrong with him
This entire tragic event must be investigated properly. Any cop that forces a dog owner to cut off their dog’s head must be terminated and procecuted for this atrocity.
Everyone concerned In this tragedy needs to be questioned because it must NEVER happen again. Only allow dogs to be kept by those who have proven they are capable of looking them and issue Dog Licences . All animals are important and must be looked after properly
Send PETITION TO GOVERNOR NATHAN DEAL! Let him know what backwoods police are doing to animals and residents! This is UNACCEPTABLE. Georgia’s treatment of animals is third world. These “officers” need to be fired! NO excuses.
This officer must be removed from the force. To much POLICE STATE coming to view. If the dog needed to be sent to be tested for rabies the body should have be removed from where the animal was killed and then QUALIFIED PEOPLE should have taken it for testing. I think this officer is taking his Position right to his head. HE IS NOT THE KIND OF PERSON THAT SHOULD BE IN CHARGE OF A BICYCLE LET ALONE HUMAN LIVES.
Manual Completo Para Criação de Conteúdos – R$ 47. http://gamewalk.jp/rezero_deathorkiss/doku.php?id=fo_mula_negocio_online
It appears that this horrific event happened at least over a year ago, however, I received a request on facebook to sign this petition today so I’m assuming that this has still not been resolved. I’m completely horrified to read this story!! This police officer should be removed of his badge and never be allowed to work in any kind of law enforcement again, and some sort of charge be held against him for such mis-use of authority. No one, who has any kind of heart, or compassion for a living being would ever demand someone to cut off their own beloved pets head, nor I can’t think of any kind of law that would put a person in jail, which was threatened by the officer, for not submitting to such an evil, distorted demand. I,for one, know that no matter how responsible a pet owner you are, incidents, where a person gets bit unfortunately do happen. It could have even been a poodle,but whatever the breed, your pet will have to be quarantined by the city’s animal control for at least 10 days and be tested for rabies. In some cases even if the pet has had a rabies shot, it is still required by the city to quarantine the pet and have them tested. That is the proper way to handle a situation such as this. The animals actions did not have to warrant its death. Since the animal had already bitten once,the situation should have been handled by an animal control officer, and not a police officer, and I am not aware of any city ordinance,EVER to have the owner cut his own pets head off. THAT IS INSANE!! Once a dog bites the city animal control is contacted and they take the animal into their custody, dead or alive, and they have the animal tested, as well as determine whether the dog is a threat to society by observation, and whether or not to have the animal be-headed, after euthanization, and then further testing is done. The owner of this dog would be cited for a dog at large charge, at minimum, and have to appear in court,as well as take certain steps to keep the dog more secure, if even allowed to be released to its owner, as well as pay a quarantine fee, and other fees, prior to release. This tragic situation was just so totally out of control, and inhumane. This officer abused his authority, and should not be able to work in law enforcement again.
I agree.
I couldn’t of done it, I would of been sick, all my dogs have rabie shots, but I dont carry papers with me but they wear tags.
Why isn’t the police chief or someone with authority speaking up? I say because they have no defense. I don’t know why these police have to keep stirring up bad feeling when they don’t have too. There are good honest carin officers and then so many like this officer. With his attitude he should be let go immediately. If that man comes down with rabies, the city can just hand him the keys to town.
Pits don’t attack for no reason. No one knows what happened prior to this horrible accident. Please don’t misjudge this breed of dogs.
Sick people just sick. Poor dog
Justice for this cruelty nightmare this is just horrible.
No man should be forced to harm their own dog. Even these officers should be punished.
The dog attacked a neighbor. There is no detail on that. Officers had no business asking man to do surgery on his dog. That should be done by a real doctor. But at the same dog the dog was vicious and calling the dog a beloved family pet does not change that.
Obviously related to one of the officers, trying to sway judgement when the article is not saying debating if the decision to terminate the dog was correct.the article in simple and plain terms speaks about the justification to (force)an un-qualified owner to perform a procedure on his own dog under duress of false pretenses.
Are you mental? No that was a dumb question because obviously you are. Noone would or could EVER force me with jail nor gun to decapitate my dog. I cant imagine what state of mind he must’ve been in after his dog was killed. But let me tell u somethin lady,come in my dogs yard and she’ll bite you too. N dn right shes a beloved family pet! Draw on my pet n you’ll be put down also just like atleast one of those pigs would’ve been. N that’s exactly what they were, sry pigs!
I commend your passion for the mistreatment of this dog and his owner. However do not refer to police as pigs as a cop’s daughter most of these men and women put their lives on the line every day to protect us some not all make gross errors and make the rest of them look bad but without police we would have absolute chaos and who would you call if there were no police and you were being attacked or your home was being invaded?
It is time to start hanging abusers upside down by their balls til dead. Finis
Let’s look at this closer. Neighbor was bitten….how badly, how many stitches? Then, dog attempts to attack Officers. As much as I love animals, if I was about to be attacked, I would shoot. A video is mentioned that shows all this happening. So, where is it?? I need proof to make a decision on this. The article is just a group of words with nothing to support and back it up. To me, at this time, it is just an article written by who knows who with no supporting evidence. I am sure no one wants to end up laying blame on a bogus charge or situation!! Or is that just my opinion?
Here is a link to the story
https://nypost.com/2018/01/30/cops-killed-familys-dog-then-made-them-saw-off-its-head-suit/
All the humans should be punished in this case. Animals are trained to be mean. They are born gentle & loving.
That animal could have been doing what it was there for – to protect!! Until you and anyone else knows the COMPLETE story, no judgement should passed.
This is completely unfathomable to me. I’d go to jail first! How DARE they force the family to behead their beloved, yes..BELOVED, pet! Who truly knows what transpired? If it did, in fact, happen as they’ve said..all involved deserve to be terminated. Show the public the video evidence! How callous can one be? This is totally unacceptable of our ‘professionals’ who are supposed to serve and protect. Furthermore, if the officers went onto their property, Big Boy had every right to protect his territory. This is what gives the good guys in blue a bad name. Utterly disgusting!!!!!!
Can we do the same to them. This is unacceptable. What type of human would do something like that.
I commend your passion for the mistreatment of this dog and his owner. However do not refer to police as pigs as a cop’s daughter most of these men and women put their lives on the line every day to protect us some not all make gross errors and make the rest of them look bad but without police we would have absolute chaos and who would you call if there were no police and you were being attacked or your home was being invaded?