Om nom nom nom! pluto665, Flickr
The story, which "sounds funny if you're not in the middle of it," says one person familiar with the case, began on Sunday afternoon. Officer Clayton Holmes of the Chattanooga Police Department was sitting in his patrol car "running radar," when he felt the car shaking and got out to investigate, reports the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Officer Rebecca Rayval tells Paw Nation that Holmes "saw a dog chewing on one of the car's tires. The dog was apparently very aggressive."
Officer Holmes fired pepper spray at the dog, but it only moved from tearing up the tire to tearing up the front fender. "The dog had a hold of the front bumper and Officer Holmes used the Taser on him, which stopped the dog for about three seconds," Officer Rayval says. "But the dog ripped the Taser probes out of his skin and went back to chewing on the bumper."
When a second police officer arrived in his car, the dog flattened its tire too, says Officer Rayval. Winston also chewed the tires on two cars that drove by trying to get through the area, says Karen Walsh, executive director at the McKamey Animal Center, speaking to Paw Nation.
"It was awful. Thankfully nobody got hurt," Winston's owner, Nancy Emerling, tells Paw Nation about learning of the incident. "I think amazing restraint was shown by the officers in not shooting him."
Emerling has had Winston since he was a stray puppy who wandered onto the property at Mann Welding, a family-run business, in October 2007. "He was just a little guy, just a couple of months old," says Emerling. She named the puppy Winston because "he kind of reminded me of Winston Churchill," she says.
Winston lived at the fenced-in property, staying in an enclosed outdoor pen with another dog. "He's not a guard dog, he's penned up," says Emerling. "He's just a stray dog that we took in. He's a sweet dog and has never been aggressive towards people. He doesn't like a lot of noises, like the lawnmower or leaf blower. It just drives him crazy."
The best that Emerling can piece together, "something happened that upset the dog enough to break out through the chain link fence." Winston chewed through the strap on the gate, rammed into the gate until he bent the latch and got out of his pen, Emerling tells Paw Nation. Then he ran around the fenced property, across a creek and out to the road where the police car was next door.
Winston was impounded by animal control officers and Emerling was issued a citation for possessing a "potentially dangerous animal," a legal term defined by a city ordinance and the dog is being held as a "potentially dangerous dog."
The next step will be for a judge to rule in the case and if things go in Winston's favor, hopefully, a new home to be found for the dog as well.
"We would love to have Winston back," says Emerling, "but we cannot take responsibility of him doing something like this again."
But Emerling received a surprise offer earlier this week from someone who wants to adopt Winston: None other than Officer Holmes, who first encountered the dog chewing up his police car.
"Officer Holmes doesn't want the dog put down," confirms Officer Rayval. "He has talked to Nancy [Emerling] and she has agreed. It would be good for the dog to be out in the country." Officer Holmes has a large farm outside the city of Chattanooga and it would "be the best thing for Winston to get to go be a dog and run and be happy," says Emerling.
That, however, will be up to Judge Sherry Paty, who is scheduled to hear the case next week. "We're trying to treat this as a normal 'potentially dangerous dog' case, but it's not normal," says Walsh. "We've never had a dog attack a car before. And no one's ever asked to adopt a potentially dangerous dog."
"He has displayed no overtly aggressive behavior since he's been here," says Walsh, adding that some dogs will throw themselves at the bars, which Winston has not done. But neither has he seemed particulary happy. "No, he hasn't wagged his tail," says Walsh. "He's just here. He's noncommittal and that's okay. We're not his people."
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I think it's wonderful that officer Holmes wants to adopt Winston, however,
for his sake, I trust he has no young children or anyone who can be a target
of Winston's in the future. Not knowing what instigates Winston's behavior
is a problem, and this not knowing can again trigger Winston's aggression.
Holmes must be very very careful.
I think it is awesome that the officer is adopting the dog. Love will change a dog. I dont care what anyone says. We have a pitt-bull and she is the most loving dog ever. We have two little children 5 and 7 that he love and plays with. SHE HAS NEVER BITTEN ANYONE. It is all how a dog is treated,, loved and brought up....Good Luck.. You are an angel Officer for giving the dog a chance. Lots of TLC....
to post #2, although I agree with you about pits, I do not agree about the nature of this dog. The fact that it was a stray and the original origin of the dog is unknown and the dog showed aggressive behavior is grounds enough to be cautious. The odopting officer should always keep a watchful eye on the dog, and maybe figure out what exactly set him off. I own one myself AND have two children who I trust around the dog very much, but I have raised that dog from 8 weeks old, putting in lots of time in training and socializing. I know that dog like the back of my hand. The original family is also very smart to acknowledge that they understand the dog displayed unusual behavior and they are no longer able to vouch for it. I hope even though this dog did something like this, a suitable and appropriate home is found instead of the animal being put down.
Is it possible that the dog could hear the radar? Maybe the high frequency of the radar unit set him off and drove him over the edge...after all he escaped and went straight to the police car and started chewing...LOL!!
Iri--She has had this dog since he was a puppy, a couple months old. That's....um.....eight weeks. Same as how old your dog was when you got him. Your comment is ridiculous.
This is what happens to many poor animals who are locked up constantly or constrained on a chain or leash. All this energy for months or years builds up and the dog has to release it.
If was a vicious dog, he would have attacked another animal or a human. To put him down for being normal is a crime, especially all the good information about his past behavior. All he need is Officer Holmes and "his" farm,
I hope the court is reasonable..The dog is now lethargic because "his spirit" is just about broken. Imagine if we were confined all the time as infants till whenever?
wow, and to think it had to be a police car. unreal, best of luck.
I think that this story is sad. It may sound funny what Winston did with the tires and front bumper of the Police car but this is truely a pet whom has a problem with cars ...Perhaps it was once injured by a Police car or saw it's previous owners being taken away in one? I would say this fur kid had a bad experience with a car that looked like a police car, sounded like one or was a police car. This car clearly triggered this dogs innate instincts to protect it self from the car or scare the car off as if the car meant danger to the dog.. There is so much more to this story of how this dog came to be fearful of a car... and the fact Winston was a stray and is owners do not know Winstons previous life style...I just hope the judge understands that all dogs have feellings & fears. I hope the officer is allowed to adopt this fur kid.. and give it a life of freedom and understanding... I am sure this pet can be worked with and work out its psychological fears... Let's Pray For Winston & The Officer kind enough to adopt & undertsand Winston...
I totally agree.. For a first-time violation, I really think that the dog should be given another chance to change.. Good thing that the officer is willing to adopt him... Maybe by doing that, the dog would be able to overcome his fear of police cars... Hopefully same incident won't happen again..
let's wait until the dog hurts a human before appropiate action is taken. maybe it can be one of your loved ones.
is it just me or does this article NOT mention what kind of dog it is??? Just my opinion .... but someone trainned this dog to eat police cars
did u not read the article? was the words to big for u to read? it says plainly "pit bull mix"
It clearly states in the first paragraph that Winston is a pitbull mix.
And if what the owner of the dog has said is true - that he was found as a stray puppy only a few months old and has lived with them ever since - who do you propose trained him to eat police cars? The owner does not have a viable reason for doing so, and training a very young dog to 'come,' 'sit,' and 'stay' is quite difficult enough. Training it to do something as complicated as attacking a police car and expecting the training to hold over two and a half years later is virtually impossible.
THATS TAKING THE BITE OUT OF CRIME lol
Wow--that woman is a piece of work. She is not fit to have a pet. If she were responsible, the dog would not have been out in the first place. And then to say that the police showed restraint in not shooting him! What a complete loser. Sad that animals get stuck in situations with morons like that.
Paragraph EIGHT states how the dog got out. The dog had to go through several things to escape so, the woman WAS being responsible or had thought so. In the past I had a pit-mix who would and did escape everything, so much so I often called her a "Houdini-mix." I'm wondering if some sound humans can't hear from the radar caused the dog to behave in the way it did causing it to attack the police car.
Jordan: Where I live, the owner is responsible if the dog gets out. PERIOD. She should not have left him outside atttended long enough to get out. It is obvious that her only concern is not having to pay for the damage--she could not care less about the dog. "He's just a stray we took in." Kind of late to be playing the stray card when you have had a dog more than two years. Nope--he is her dog and she should pay for the damage he did. She is an ignorant idiot.
Jordan: Where I live, the owner is responsible if the dog gets out. PERIOD. She should not have left him outside atttended long enough to get out. It is obvious that her only concern is not having to pay for the damage--she could not care less about the dog. "He's just a stray we took in." Kind of late to be playing the stray card when you have had a dog more than two years. Nope--he is her dog and she should pay for the damage he did. She is an ignorant idiot.
Most people are unfit to have pets. However, I must say most people are unfit to judge another human being based on a feature news article as well. I've done reporting, in news you have to write what sells. There is a very real possibility that this was not a candid remark. If the reporter wanted to make the officers seem like great people because they did not shoot the dog all they have to do is lead the source into saying it. You ask the question enough times (rephrasing it a little each time) and eventually they will say what you want them to say! I once took in a stray border collie. After 3 months we had to re-home her because she was miserable inside and when she was outside she would find a way out- using a lawn chair as steps to jump over the gate and even digging under the fence! She was only happy if we were outside with her, which unfortunately we could not do 16 hours a day. We completely revamped our fence to try to accommodate her, and if someone called us morons for doing the best we could I… I don’t know. But, I doubt they have ever tried to help anything in their lives. Probably, what the animal needs is space without the hustle and bustle of the city. That’s what our collie needed, and got. Unfortunately, not everyone who tries to help is able to offer those kind of resources.
Stormy: Did you read the article?? She has had the dog for over 2 years and there is no mention of his getting out previously. He gets out once, does damage (she clearly doesn't want to pay for) and she is more than willing to get rid of him and you think she has done the best she could?? I suspect if the judge were to order him euthanized, she would not fight the order. Also--I have to tell you, I would NEVER say an officer had exercised restraint in not shooting my dog for destroying a police car, no matter how many times I was asked. A police car is an inanimate object, Winston is a dog who has lived with her for two years!! Maybe you have no more regard for your pets than this woman has for hers, I don't know, but she sure doesn't impress me.