This happened here in L.A. about a month ago.
A friend of a friend's Pit Bulls got out of his yard and was barking at the neighbor next door from on top of the garage.
The neighbor was scared and called the police. The Pits ran back into their OWN yard and weren't bothering anyone. The police got there and went INTO the guy's back yard. The dogs, of course, began to bark at the police. The police then pepper sprayed, and tazered the dogs. When this didn't calm one of the dogs down they shot him twice. He died soon after that.
The guy was called home to find his dog dead on his porch in a pool of blood. The police seem to feel they were justified for what they did. They kept the guy out of his own house for a couple of hours, when the cops left they left the dog there and blood everywhere.
The guy doesn't know if he will sue the city. The city wants to treat this as a personal property thing. Ironically if you harm a police dog it counts as harming an officer. Something I agree with, but there should be some fairness.
I don't really understand how they can just go INTO someone's yard and assault your dog. I know the dogs MIGHT have been a danger if they got out. But I knew for a fact they weren't since I met the dogs and they didn't show agression.
I don't know...its just sad.