Police officer shoots family dog
'Poor dog got killed for nothing,' owner insists

Stuart Hunter
The Province Friday, January 23, 2004

Dave Bains (left) and his son, Sandeep Bains, check out the area near their home's front door where their chained-up, eight-year-old family dog, Tommy, was fatally shot by a Vancouver police officer Wednesday evening.

A snapshot shows an unidentified family member playing with an affectionate Tommy.

It was a fitful night's sleep at the Bains family's east Vancouver home Wednesday.

Moans of grief were mingled with cries of anguish from teens Sandeep and Amandeep as the Bainses spent the first night in nearly eight years without the trusting brown eyes of their beloved family dog Tommy looking up at them.

Tommy, a German shepherd/huskie cross, was shot and killed by a Vancouver police officer on Wednesday night even though the animal was chained and inside the fenced yard of the Bains home in the 7800-block Windsor Street.

"The boys and my wife [Harbans] had a really bad night -- they can't sleep only moaning and crying thinking about our Tommy," tearful dad Dave Bains said yesterday.

"That poor dog got killed for nothing. Why would they come in and kill our dog when he was protecting us?"

Vancouver police say the officer who shot Tommy was acting in self-defence and because the yard was dark, failed to notice the dog was on a seven-metre chain. An investigation into the shooting is under way.

Sandeep, 16, 13-year-old Amandeep and Harbans were watching the Canucks-Tampa Bay NHL game Wednesday when they heard Tommy, who was chained so he could run from the front of the property to the rear, bark -- and then a loud bang.

"We heard the dog bark two or three times and then at the same time a 'Bang,'" Harbans said.

"We went to the side window and the dog was on the ground. We started screaming: 'Someone killed our dog!' We didn't know he was a police officer until he showed us his badge."

Tommy was rushed to a veterinary hospital where he died from a single gunshot wound to the neck area.

Const. Sarah Bloor said the VPD regretted the accidental shooting but the officer with three years' experience was following his training.

The officer was visiting the Bains home to speak to the basement-suite tenant who is a witness in an investigation when he was confronted by a barking Tommy. He tried to retreat and ordered the dog to stop but opened fire when Tommy didn't back down.

"With no signs posted and with no lights to be able to see that, in fact the dog was on the chain, the officer backed up and tried to retreat and the dog still came at him," Bloor said.

"Every officer is trained to assess the situation and to see the best option for what that situation presents and in this situation the officer chose to take action."

Bloor added the officer, who since the shooting is on paid temporary leave, has no history of discharging his firearm in the line of duty.

The shooting is being investigated by a member of the major crimes section.

Bloor said the officer is very distraught over the incident.

Bains said he is considering hiring a lawyer and wants the VPD to take measures to ensure more family pets don't die unnecessarily.

Bains said he had posted a Beware of Dog sign on the front gate but it disappeared Wednesday, although the sign on the rear gate was still in place.

Added Harbans: "We got him when he was nine months and I loved him more than my kids. We cannot forget him."

Two Abbotsford police officers were cleared of any wrongdoing after a family pit bull was shot during a child's birthday party in January 1999.

Const. David Schmirler and Const. Matthew Sekela were initially found guilty of breaching conduct under the Police Act but successfully appealed the rulings.