Apparently Handguns are Ineffective at Close Range

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http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090807/NEWS/908070315


PROVINCETOWN — A Provincetown police officer shot a severely injured cat early Monday morning to relieve its suffering, according to Provincetown police Chief Jeff Jaran.

But questions about the number of times the handgun was fired — four — were raised on a local blog maintained by the Provincetown Association of Concerned Citizens.

A citizen called police at 11:45 p.m. on Sunday from near Creek Road to report an injured cat. A summer patrolman went to the call, put the cat in a crate and brought it to the police station. Patrolman Geoffrey Pavao, the officer-in-charge for the shift, assessed the cat's status and decided that it needed to be put down right away, Jaran said.

Pavao took the cat to the department of public works garage, shot his gun four times and killed the cat. He then placed the dead animal in a plastic bag and left it for the department of public works employees to dispose of, Jaran said.The cat had open wounds with maggots feeding on its flesh, Jaran said.

"The officer determined that it was clearly suffering. It could barely move," he said. "It was put down humanely."

There have been no written or verbal complaints filed with the police department, Jaran said. A patrolman is allowed to use his gun to kill an injured animal for humanitarian reasons as long as it occurs in a place that protects anyone from getting shot, said Jaran.

Police department managers in Wellfleet, Dennis and Mashpee confirmed that their departments have similar policies. The Cape managers cited an example of an injured deer on the side of a road.

Pavao recorded the use of his handgun with the department, as is required, Jaran said. The officer chose not to drive an hour to an animal hospital given the cat's poor condition.

"I'm also under budget constraints," Jaran said. "I can't justify transporting the animal, to take my resources all the way out of town for an animal that needs to be put down. There needs to be a bit of common sense as well."

A patrolman could conceiveably need to fire his gun four times at close-range, said Wellfleet Police Chief Richard Rosenthal.

The lines of sight on a handgun are designed for targets farther away than the cat would likely have been, so the officer could possibly have needed a few shots to kill the animal, Rosenthal said.




A patrolman could conceiveably need to fire his gun four times at close-range, said Wellfleet Police Chief Richard Rosenthal.

The lines of sight on a handgun are designed for targets farther away than the cat would likely have been, so the officer could possibly have needed a few shots to kill the animal, Rosenthal said.

Really? Maybe he would have been better off standing 230 yards away.


*Disclaimer*

This thread is not intended to be about the cat or the concerned citizens group. Simply the fact that a handgun is being reported to not be a close quarters weapon on an immobile target.
 
uhm NO!! The vet would have put the cat down humanely.. Shooting it 4 tmes just makes them sound like hillbillies..
 
I saw a badly injured opposum on the road in a metrowest town close to rt.128 several years ago at night. I called the local PD to let them know and the sarcastic response was "What do you want us to do? Shoot it?" I said that or transport by the animal control officer was exactly what I expected.
 
A neighboring town to me once dropped a magazine into a racoon. The guy had no clue where to shoot an animal and thought it would immediately put all 4 legs straight up in the air, X's would appear across it's eyes, and the animal would peacfully expire. It didn't do that and he kept shooting
 
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It is very common to put animals down in the course of duty. In the case of wild animals the Vet hospitals wont take them. It does seem that Cats are one of the few domesticated animals that officers seem willing to put down.
 
My first thought when reading the first post was *sigh* "typical".

Thirty years ago, another cop used four rounds to dispatch an obviously diseased woodchuck in my back yard (we suspected rabies). After the third round, I disappeared into the house to get the shotgun. He got it by the time I got back.

The animal control officer who showed up to pick up the diseased animal commented that it is why she loaded up with shotshells.
 
I've never tried to shoot an approx 4" dia target ("Center of Cat") at very close range and on the ground, but I expect I'd likely be off target for at least the first round. It's probably not a scenario they train for. I bet if the cat had been at chest height at 15 ft, he'd have nailed it.
 
I've never tried to shoot an approx 4" dia target ("Center of Cat") at very close range and on the ground, but I expect I'd likely be off target for at least the first round. It's probably not a scenario they train for. I bet if the cat had been at chest height at 15 ft, he'd have nailed it.

Really? I'm pretty sure if you concentrated just a little bit you can hit it pretty easily. I think most people here could do a 4" target at 30 feet pretty easily.

My guess? The cop was just having some fun and maybe put the cat out at 30-50 feet for target practice.

Nothing news-worthy except the Chief trying to give an excuse for it.

If I were tasked with shooting something, why not have some fun doing it?
 
maybe he's not a gun guy...and hates going to the range

Probably. Then maybe they should take away his gun and just give him mace to perform his job.

If he ever gets into a situation like what happened in Malden on Tuesday, instead of a dead suspect he'd have 4 civilian casualties.

I just think he was probably having some target practice fun with the thing.
 
Sounds like we all need to go rob banks in P-town! We're safe so long as we keep the officers standing next to us!

<Attention Big brother: that was humour, not a serious plot>
 
I'm thinking he might need some practice time at the range, not a psych eval...

I hate to say it but I've been to braintree plenty of times on the indoor range with police officers shooting next to me. My sister (who doesn't go that often) and I can shoot the black out of the target and complain if we get one on the white, but the police next to me have nicks on the edges of the mansized target themselves. Kinda scary to see that...I would normally say it's just a new gun but their shots would be all over the paper
 
Maybe he just thought "I'm going to shoot this cat until it's not moving to make sure it's dead and out of it's misery. Surely people aren't going to have so little to do in their own lives they are going to count my shots and freak out if I take more than they think I should, despite the fact that they are not here with me right now to see how damn squirmy this cat is because he's in so much pain and terrified out of his mind. I just want it to stop squirming and looking at me with those big, pain filled eyes. Dammit...it looks just like my old cat, fluffynuts! Can't...see...the...sights......tears...." BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM!
"I'm sorry, fluffynuts! Oh God...I need a beer. Hey Highway! Clean this mess up!"
 
Key word CAT

You cant trust the little bastards he was probably wearing Kevlar and just waiting for the opportunity to counter attack. Remember 2 to the chest and 1 to the head , its the only safe way to be sure.

Seriously i once saw a NJ state police officer shoot a whole mag into a Deer on the highway that had 4 broken legs and never once did he hit anything vital. The poor deer suffered until Fish and Game officer came and put it down.

Most police dont have a clue how to humanly put down any animal especially something as small as a cat.
 
a cat with open, maggot infested wounds taking 4 rounds with a pistol....maybe even using JHP.....what was left of the cat after that to twitch......?
 
The cat had maggots feeding on open wounds and most likely would have died on its own before teh sun went down. The cop didn't want the animal to suffer anymore and did the humane thing. Many things could easily explain 4 shots: 1) He probably didn't look forward to shooting it and winced, which didn't help accuracy. 2) He was concerned about where the shots were going, trying to do everything right, and not concentrating on accuracy 3) He probably felt bad when the cat reacted to the first shot, and wanted to end it as quickly as possible. 4) Lots of shots wouldn't end in immediate death, and it seems kind of cruel to shoot one, wait 5 minutes, see if it's still kicking, and then shoot again. 5) I saw a police officer miss a skunk that was sitting still. He shot it at a distance of about 20 feet with a .22 rifle, so not all officers are capable of hitting a quarter sized target with a handgun, and that's what you'd need to guarantee a hit to the central nervous system. Not that I would condone anything improper, but it seems like the SSS approach would have caused him less grief.
 
Would have been faster, easier and cheaper to just run the cruiser back and forth over the cat. Less suffering for the poor thing. I even murder the lobsters before I throw them into the pot. (Buck knife thru the brain). Jack.
 
anyone who's shot an animal in the head at close range with a handgun knows that it will continue to twitch even though the brain is dead. putting a few more rounds into it could be seen as the merciful thing to do, as it's an attempt to end what could be percieved as suffering.

I need to find a cat to test this out

I hate those clawed, lazy hairballs
 
a cat with open, maggot infested wounds taking 4 rounds with a pistol....maybe even using JHP.....what was left of the cat after that to twitch......?

Zombi?

zombie-13.jpg
 
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