Death from above
During the briefing for our next raid, the case agent told us that the subject had a large and very mean pit bull in the house. It was a two story house and the dog was allowed to freely roam around the top floor of the residence. There was also a second story patio where we had seen it walking around.
I hate pit bulls. Plans were made on what to do if it was a threat and a couple of people were carrying shotguns to "neutralize" it if needed.
We rolled up the house and made our approach. I was covering the second story windows when I saw the curtains of one move. I started to yell out that our approach was compromised when I saw a huge pit hop out onto the balcony. It immediately started barking at us and came up to the edge of the railing. I was just about to disregard it and refocus on the windows when it slipped through the railings of the balcony and hopped down onto the roof JUST ABOVE THE DOOR.
We were about halfway from our van to the front door of the residence and were committed. This freaking huge pit bull was standing on the roof directly above the front door of the house and we were headed right for it. The entire raid team paused in the mid-step but there was no stopping at this point.
I was the third man in the stack and due to the setup, I posted right under that snarling monster. It was about 1 to 2 feet above my head as the ram man started trying to defeat the door. That dog was going nuts barking and snarling. Foam from its mouth was hitting me in the face. I stood there trying to cover the front windows and that dog at the same time. It wasn't working for me but I didn't want to shoot it. We were in a residential neighborhood and I didn't want to start sending rounds up in the air. Plus I was a little taken aback. We never trained for airborne attack dogs.
It seemed like it was taking forever for that damn door to get opened up. Of course this would be the time when the door was reinforced. I ended up kinda hunching my shoulders and tilting my head so that my kevlar was between me and that monster. I hoped that if it leaped onto my head like a crazy attack monkey, it would smack into my helment first.
The door finally got open and I almost knocked the ram man over when I ran into the house. I had just stepped into the doorway and was wondering how I was going to clear the upstairs with that dog up there when I heard **BOOM**...THUD.
Never mind. It turned out that one of the guys on my team was not an animal lover.
7 bits of radio chatter:
And that is why I love letting our 80lb Labradonkulus (Black lab mix that everybody think is an American Pit Bull Terrier) roam the house when we're gone.
Anybody that gets onto the property is going to be staring back at a big black critter that stands about 5'6" tall when he rears up and drops his paws on that window or door.
Of course, he's been socialized, is friendly as can be, and you can often find him on the living room floor snuggled up to a 12 pound cat or two, cleaning their faces for them, but he looks pretty scary when he's alerting to somebody's presence.
Usually when I see somebody posting stories that paint a 'pit bull' in a bad light I point out their good qualities, and that it's generally drug dealing gangster thugs that improperly raise their dogs that give the terrier bull breeds a bad name. But, given that you were dealing with a drug dealing gangster thug's dog, your concerns were totally valid.
When Mr.Remington speaks,people listen.
lol, that reminds me of a raid where there were multiple pit bulls. we had animal control with us, but they can't go in until the scene is safe. we hit the door the dogs got scared and ran with their between their legs. (thank God, Big dogs) I go to clear a closet, me with rifle, partner opens the door and steps back and a pit bull pup comes running out straight at me. as i aimed it stopped and laid down at my feet. There was an ak in that closet, but the dogs were big sissy's.
J/L:
It's sad to see ANY innocent put down, whether they have 2 or 4 legs.
Trouble with that is, these "innocents" are "propgrammed" to be the way they are (thanks to some very nasty buttwipes with no conscience or sense of civility) and that alone is sufficient cause to protect everyone from them.
They just act the way they're TAUGHT...they can't help it.
(Right, Mr Vick?)
Good post.
Stay safe out there.
Wonderful post..great writing!
-Dispatcher
My sis has about 7 dogs at her house. She lives alone and a bit far from other people, so they are her first line of defense. Most dogs are small yappy breeds, but one is a big freaking bulldog she found with a broken leg by the road. She was very scared of at first, and only took him in because they told her at the shelter that they would have to euthanize him if she left him there. She put an ad on the paper to get him a new owner, and a few answered, but clearly they wanted him for dogfights. So she kept the dog. And he is the sweetest of the bunch, real easy to train and very social.
"J/L:
It's sad to see ANY innocent put down, whether they have 2 or 4 legs.
Trouble with that is, these "innocents" are "propgrammed" to be the way they are (thanks to some very nasty buttwipes with no conscience or sense of civility) and that alone is sufficient cause to protect everyone from them.
They just act the way they're TAUGHT...they can't help it.
(Right, Mr Vick?)
Good post.
Stay safe out there."
I think that point stand for a lot of 2 legs that ends up in troubles too. Unfortunately you can't fix stupid...
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