Scenario: Three pit bulls break in to your house and attack your dog. You're on the phone to 911 in a total panic. You tell them you're getting your gun, and dispatch says, "No! Don't get a gun! Put the gun down!" What would your response be?

Oh! I’m sorry you’re breaking up. I’ll call back later. Then I would get my gun and….......the rest would be history.

I have a gun, why am I phoning 911?

Excuse my language. ”Fuck the police!” I would then get my gun. End of story.

it takes 8 seconds to load my gun, that is how long you have before I protect my life. then hang up

Sorry,wish you said that before I blew their asses away.

My response would be to get the gun.

“Don’t worry, I’m registered…..(Blam. Blam Blam!)”

Exactly! I guess the dispatcher said what he legally had to say to cover his butt but geez….if ever there was a time for a gun, it was then!!

@filmfann She did! The last shot was of the dogs running out and she coming after them with the gun in her hand. She never fired it though.

What a freaking nightmare that would be…

I don’t have a gun so I guess I’d just be screaming and trying to find anything to beat them off with. I don’t like guns, but, in a case like this I have no issue with using one to protect yourself and pets. My take on the dispatcher is that they were being cautious about a panicked person using a gun, that is very valid, miss the dogs and a bullet ends up in someones living room.

“Three pit bulls break in to your house and attack your dog and the 911 operator says ‘put the gun down!””

That happens often?

I’d get the gun for sure. Not only to try and save my dogs, but my own goddamn self, too. I probbaly wouldn’t even call the cops at that point, I’d do it after the ordeal…not because I don’t think they can help, but because all this would happen so fast that an immediate course of action would be needed. I suppose I could lock myself in a room and use the cell phone if I was lucky enough that it was on me, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t like my dog being ripped apart while I do nothing.
That’s prolly what the police would suggest though, find some safe place and wait till we get there.

They’re not wrong, either. You could accidentally shoot your own dog in the the panic, or blow off your foot or something, or anyone heeded by the commotion that barges in to help. But it would be a hard thing to do, and if I had some type of weapon, I’d use it. Despite the factors which would come into solving such a situation efficiently, like proper firearm handling and all, maybe just one shot in the air (or the roof I guess) might scare the dogs.

if it happened to me I would have called 911 to report the dead dogs in my house

We own a Pitt so I know what they’re capable of. Screw what the dispatcher says, I’m going for my gun. I have a mother, partner and several other animals to protect.
In my house, I wouldn’t have wasted time calling a 911 operator on dogs though.

Nice talking to you

“When you have to shoot, shoot! Don’t talk!”

- Bandit Tuco Benedicto Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez (in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly)

“CLICK” (((BANG…BANG…BANG)))

@jaytkay Here is the link As I said, I just saw this on Inside Edition.

Listening to the tapes..if pit bulls were tearing my dog apart in my own house and had come after me, and I had that gun in my hands and the dispatcher told me to put it down…I would have screamed “F…. YOU!!!” and thrown the phone down! (Knowing that help was on the way) Just like @Cruiser just said!

Well, this person sounds to me like someone who happened to have a gun and didn’t even remember it until after she’d done the logical thing and scream for help….

I would have called the police AFTER I had shot them.

“F off!” I will protect my house and all therein how I see fit.

None I would hang up…and take my dog to the vet…after getting the other dogs to exit…Then I would sue the dogs owner for the expense.

@talljasperman And just exactly how would you go about getting three (or four) murderous pit bulls, who were been intent on ripping your dog apart and then chased you upstairs to your bedroom with the intention of ripping you apart, leaving blood all over the steps leading up to your room…blood all over the freaking HOUSE, how exactly would you get them to “exit?” “Here Kitty Kitty”? Offer them some dog treats?? I would have shot to kill their asses in a heart beat.

I don’t know if the owner paid for expenses or not. The innocent owner’s dog had about at thousand stitches all around his chest and neck and face. I imagine the asshole that owned the dogs was responsible. But all I know for sure, from the report, is the city killed those fucking pit bulls.

@Dutchess_III I didn’t say how I would make the pit bulls to exit… What would Cesar Millan do…? I certainly wouldn’t use a gun unless it was to fire in the air…maybe some other way…besides it’s all ready to late to decide what to do… I would have never have let the situation start in the first place. My dog would be properly secured.

These situations aren’t always so clear cut, I don’t think. I don’t have a gun so that wouldn’t have been an option for me but I probably wouldn’t have called 911 and have tried to break the fight up with a two by four which wouldn’t have worked either and would have been stupid. I would have panicked too.

I found the news story here and they have some of the video … and … I’m not a gun person but I’m just not sure a gun would have been the answer here either. Say she’s an average, even possibly a somewhat above average shot … looking at the video, what would be the chances of her actually getting a solid shot at one or both of the pit bulls in the first place and without killing or wounding one of her own dogs? Particularly in the time she had to do it?

A couple of other things. When you call 911 the operator assesses your emergency: fire, police, ambulance, dispatches emergency personnel to your location immediately and stays on the line with you. To be there, to try and calm you down and to try to get more information, like whether or not your packing heat, to keep you from doing something stupid, all that stuff, to get information about what situation officers are getting into.

The woman herself admitted she was panicked and babbling like an idiot at times and possibly, the most responsible thing the dispatcher “could” have done was try to disarm her while the authorities were on the way. It endangers both the citizen and the first responders if they show up to an emergency and someone is armed and panicked. Cops don ‘t like those kinds of calls. But, it in the end, it would have been the woman’s choice to have listened to the 911 operator or not. Just saying, a 911 operator who has just sent police and EMTs to an address can’t exactly encourage people to remain armed. And also, what apparently saved her dog’s life was that emergency personnel arrived in time to treat the dog because she called 911.

It’s a great story though. In the news report I linked to above, they said, and you can see it on the video, that the other woman’s other two dogs tried to help the one under attack by trying to herd the pit bulls away. Good dogs! They’re the heroes. :-)

I’m sorry, but if I’m in fear that something is going to kill me or cause me severe bodily harm, I’m shooting it. If dispatch and the police have a problem with that, then, well, I’d rather be judged by twelve than carried by six, if you catch my drift.

What I want to know is how did the dogs break in the house?

I know they wanted to defend their dog, but, really, why the hell wouldn’t you just take your phone and lock yourself in your bathroom?
Shit, call me chciken but I wouldn’t try to fight off 3 pitbulls, I’d slam a door on them!lol

@talljasperman and @Coloma….the dogs broke through the woman’s fence and then came into her house.

@talljasperman What is “properly secured” in your opinion? Are you suggesting we should have our dogs “properly secured,” when inside the house, as in chained? Inside the house? We should have our dogs chained (“properly secured”) when they’re in their own fenced back yard? Do you believe in chaining dogs? Are you really finding some way to blame the home owner?

Ceaser Milan would have shot their asses dead, btw. Dog “training” is a bygone issue in that situation.

I don’t like guns and I don’t own a gun, but if I had one and four dogs (or any other wild animal that threatened me or mine) came in my house and attacked a member of my family (my dogs are part of my family) I would shoot them without a second thought. If there is any reason to have a gun, surely that is it? To protect yourself and your family?

Far out. Poor woman.

I would use any means possible to save my dogs’ lives. No second thought. If the neighbour is reckless and irresponsible enough to have such untrained and dangerous dogs walking around I will feel no pain in wasting them.

Fuck ya biatch, I got me rights to protect my property!

That would get the cops over in a jiffy, nothing scares them more than what sounds like a either. Meanwhile, the pitbulls would no longer be with us. Pity though, they can be such good dogs…

Did the 911 response get the call right?
I want to know why they said do not use the firearm?
Did they think she said she was being attacked by three raging babies?
What logic are they using, to tell someone in extreme danger not to defend
themselves by any available means, even in a crowded apartment building.

The police use firearms when they are being attacked by vicious dogs.

Why are we citizens being told to stand down?

Ugh… I hate auto correct…

“I wish I didn’t have to use it, but my dog is a pacifist, and refuses to operate firearms. ”

I’d quickly realise that I was in a state of panic because I don’t in fact own a firearm!
After a brief moment of pause, i’d once again regain my calm & fetch a big knife from the kitchen.

This is so ridiculous! I won’t ask advice from people who care more about the rabid dogs than those who is being attacked. Anyway, after this scenario I’ll definitely sue the owner of these dogs for attacking me and destroying my properties. I’ll also sue the operator (if it’s possible) who said I mustn’t use a gun to defend myself!

Hmmm… All I can say is (in best drawl) “you ain’t from around here are you…”

Around these parts the 911 call happens after the magazine is empty.

90% of the nations police dispatchers are not police officers. You were given incorrect information. The law states you have the right to protect yourself and your property. The pitt bull dogs were on your property…..your dog was on your property….YOU are on your property and have the right to protect all three.

Use of a firearm should be your last resort. Pit Bulls are unpredictable and can attack humans at will.

I like to take the law into my own hands.

Especially if it’s someone/something unwanted in my house.

I’ve seen two humans that were attacked by a pit bull. One was decapitated totally the other partially. I think the dispatchers advice not to use lethal force if needed was poor.

911 is a joke usually. If something is going down right then and there you’re on your own if you can even get to a phone. So many people in all the panic and excitement give the wrong address and even some of the facts and it might be used against the caller if someone wants to nitpick details. A gun is the only thing I would even consider using against a vicious dog attack. I’m not going to risk being mauled or killed trying to stop it with my bare hands.

An additional benefit will be the rest of the neighborhood will learn you will shoot. That is the biggest difference between having guns in the house and actually using them. Personally I would like that to be common knowledge. It just may save me a few headaches in the future.

I would have probably grabbed the gun without even thinking about calling 999 (the UK’s version of 911). If the dogs were that aggressive then how do I know that they aren’t going to attack me as well. I would do all I could to save my dogs from such an attack and so if that means shooting the offending dogs then so be it.

You need to react quickly in that situation. Calling 911 isn’t going to help. But what if the 911 operative said go ahead and fire your gun and a child was killed by the bullet? I can understand the reluctance to advise shooting.

so where do you live?
I want to give the pit bulls your address!!

I would shoot if I thought I could do it without harming my own dog.

@Coloma – After watching the tape a couple of times, I can’t figure out if they came through a dog door or if the owner came to the door to see what was going on and opened it. The way the story read, she didn’t know what was happening until they were all in her living room. This makes me think they got into the house via a dog door.

Never say to a 911 operator you intend to use any gun, ever. They will relay that to the responding police and they will be guns up when they get out of the car. They won’t know you were the one who called. All they are going to see is a person standing there with a gun as soon as they get there. They don’t have a sense of humor at all when it’s someone other than them having a gun. Can’t say that I blame them.
It’s all on tape and it gives evidence of premeditation from the start. All kinds of legal headaches can come of that.

@tedibear They broke through the fence in her back yard first. I don’t know how they got in the house either. If it was a nice day, she might have had the doors open.

@YoBob You said “you ain’t from around here are you…” No no no! F for grammar! It’s “You ain’t from around here IS you..” sigh.

@MajorDisappointment To answer all of your questions, watch the home security video and listen to the 911 call.

LOL @Dutchess_III !!! Thanks for the grammar lesson… ;)

Thank God the only thing that comes through my cat door is the cat and raccoons. lol
Raccoons are easy, I had 3 eating lemon Bundt cake in my kitchen one night, a quick shout and they scurried back out, I gave ‘em the rest of the cake too, talk about having your cake and eating it too. haha