Deputy Kills Dog of Homeless Man

In response to “The Death of a Man’s Best Friend” (Metro, Nov. 28):

Here we go bashing our police officers again for making one of those tough split-second decisions that would reduce most of our population to a quivering mass of indecision.

It is my belief that the public has a valid expectation for our police to maintain control of any situation into which they are called so that they can assure the safety of themselves, the suspects/victims and the public at-large. A single officer confronted by two individuals and a dog, all of unknown character, is a situation that by its definition is almost out of the control of one policeman. I believe that the officer made the least objectionable choice in order to maintain control of the situation, and I applaud him for it.

I don’t like the shooting of an animal any more than anyone else, but I was not the one making a tough decision in a tough situation. After all, the deputy could have shot the two homeless men in order to get control of the dog.

BARRY A. LOWRY, Ridgecrest