Owners replace shot canine
Stuart Hunter
The Province
Sunday, January 25, 2004
Tommy is dead. Long live Tommy Jr.
It was a hard decision, but the Bains family of East Vancouver figured the best way to honour their dog, killed by a police officer's bullet last week, was to get a new pound puppy today and name it after their fallen "family member."
"My family misses Tommy so much that we decided to get a new puppy and name him Tommy Jr.," Dave Bains said yesterday.
German-shepherd/husky-cross Tommy was killed on Wednesday night as a Vancouver police officer walked into the Bains' front yard in the 7800-block Windsor Street to speak to the basement-suite tenant and was confronted by the chained, barking eight-year-old male.
The officer said that, because the yard was dark, he failed to notice Tommy was on a 7.5-metre chain and felt his safety was in danger, forcing him to draw his service revolver and open fire. Tommy died a short time later at a veterinary hospital from a single gunshot wound to the neck.
Buoyed by a chorus of public support, including many incensed and dog-loving Province readers, Bains said he plans to meet with VPD brass tomorrow in a bid to get more answers about the shooting. Police are also probing the incident.
"The police already called us and said they will pay for the hospital costs and cremation," Bains said.
"The officer involved is off for three or four weeks with pay and now my two teenage sons [Sandeep and Amandeep] can't sleep at night.
"They have their own rooms but they don't feel like being alone, and miss Tommy. He was protecting us and he got killed. What they did to him was totally wrong."
Bains insisted that despite some reports that Tommy was simply a yard dog, the canine was a beloved family member.
"He was not a yard dog; he came inside the house and sat on the couch with us and slept with us," Bains said.
© Copyright 2004 The Province