They claim they were searching for an African American male on suspicions of drug use.
Instead, they entered a wrong apartment and ended up shooting Adam Arroyo’s dog.
His best friend was shot multiple times and he wants answers.
Adam Arroyo knows justice is on his side.
His pet dog, two-year-old Cindy, was at home by herself while he was out.
Nothing prepared him for what he saw upon his return; his first ever dog, was lying listless.
She had been shot multiple times. He could not do anything – she was already dead by the time he got to her.
Now, more than two years later he has another dog who he has named Justice in memory of Cindy and he has filed a lawsuit against the Buffalo police department.
That day officers had barged into Arroyo’s home to carry out a “drug raid.”
An irreversible mistake
It turns out the cops had made an error of judgment. They had the wrong apartment and Cindy, who was a rescue dog, got killed for getting in their way.
It is hard to understand how the trained narcotics detectives made this mistake – they were after an African American male on suspicion of drug dealing.
Arroyo is a Hispanic war veteran who, at that time, lived in an apartment with a separate entrance and clearly marked mailbox.
The grieving owner wants to make sure that Cindy did not die in vain. In his lawsuit he mentions that several other dogs have been unnecessarily murdered by Buffalo narcotics detectives.
He mentions example of one officer who shot and killed at least 25 dogs in three years.
Is there justification?
At the time of the shooting, Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda said sometimes such actions are necessary, if their lives are in danger police officers are legally allowed to shoot a pet animal.
“If [the dog] was attacking an officer and he was … stopping the dog from attacking, he’d be justified,” he commented.
According to information provided by a Freedom of Information Act request, Buffalo police had killed more than 70 dogs in the three year period between 2011 and 2014.
Executive Director of SPCA, Erie County Barbara Carr says such shootings fall under standard operating procedure for the police.
“I’ve been told off the record that police officers have been instructed to shoot first rather than risk attack,” she added.
A nation-wide problem
This comes at a time when the high number of pet shootings is top of mind for most Americans and the issue seems to affect most states.
In Milwaukee, 434 dogs were killed in the four-year period between 2004 and 2008.
In 2011 Buffalo police shot at least seven dogs every month. The authorities claim that this number reduced significantly by 2012.
In Chicago 488 animals, mostly dogs, have been shot and killed in the seven year period since 2008.
Florida had at least 111 cases of dog shootings between 2009 and 2012.
Meanwhile Cincinnati police shot 21 dogs in the three year period from 2011 to 2014.
The disturbing list keeps growing – a reminder that the police department and its relationship with the community grow strained by the day.
Arguably, it is a case of lack of empathy at the very least.
Perhaps, Arroyo said it best.
“How would they feel if somebody ran into their house and did that to them?”
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