In 2010, a Maryland family successfully sued Frederick County sheriff deputies for an unconstitutional search of the family's home and for shooting their chocolate Lab, Brandi -- who never got closer than three feet to the officers, as shown on a camera mounted on the deputies' dashboard.

Get the full story: Barking up the Wrong Tree: Vet & Pet Industry Groups Betray Animals | Stephen Wells

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the American Kennel Club (AKC), the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA), and other industry groups have urged the Maryland Court of Special Appeals to throw out the jury award for emotional distress. These groups make enormous profits off of the emotional bond between humans and animal companions. Yet these same groups hypocritically seek to limit damages solely to an animal's "economic" or "market" value in the courts.

ANADARKO -
The Anadarko Police Department said it is investigating the shooting death of a pit bull Friday. Neighbors tell FOX 25 a police officer shot the dog to death for no reason, pointing the gun at it from inside the squad car.

We first reported this case Saturday, when Carol Nix told us what she saw. She said the dog was not aggressive or bothering anyone when the officers came and killed it.

"I said 'you just shot him?' and he said 'oh yeah,'" Nix said Saturday.

The City of Leander, Texas, has announced that it will not pay the veterinary bill for a dog who was shot by a Leander Police officer after the police came onto the property of James and Renata Simmons on June 17. When the officers entered, the Simmons’ German Shepherd, Vinny, came running around the side of the house and was shot by one of the officers who felt the dog was a threat to their safety.
It turned out that the officers were trying to execute a warrant at the wrong address in Liberty Hill. Vinny needed extensive veterinary care to save his life and the Simmons, through their attorney, filed a claim with the City of Leander to cover the $1,500 in vet bills.

The City of Leander responded on August 15 that it is denying the claim because the City is not responsible for the officer who shot Vinny in his own yard, KEYE News reports.

IRMO, SC — A family was horrified to discover a puddle of blood and a violation notice pinned to their front door. Their family dog had been killed by police while they were away.

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When police arrived, the dog approached an officer, prompting him to fire at the dog multiple times.

“He charged me,” said the officer in the incident report obtained by NBC12. “I had to shoot him.”

“She was still moving 30 minutes later and I asked if I could take her to the vet and they said no,” said a neighbor. “And that’s when one of the police officers asked the other police officer to get a tarp and just covered her up.”

The police report claims that the dog was shot again to “end the dog’s misery,” contrary to the neighbor’s statement.

“With the dog being that close to the house, if it was in the middle of the street, it’d be a little bit different I think. But the dog was on its own property so I felt he could have left the dog alone,” said a neighbor.

Idaho police shot and killed a dog over the weekend in front of a two-year-old boy. While the cops from Boise, Idaho say they felt threatened by the dog, named Kita, the owners of the dog dispute those claims, according to a report by Idaho media outlet KTVB.

On Sunday, two officers were investigating a theft in the area where Kita and the Stropkai family lived. Gabrielle Stropkai said she let her dog out to go to the bathroom. The police say they were threatened by the dog because she was running towards them. “The dog came upon the officers quickly and they felt it was about to bite them. This is a very dog friendly community,” Deputy Chief Pete Ritter said in a statement to KTVB. “Dogs running loose are a safety risk, for people and for the dogs. This was a very unfortunate situation for everyone involved.”

The family and some other witnesses have a different story. “ She was walking by and went 'ruff ruff' just a couple of little ruffs and that's when she was walking by she didn't jump at him or anything,” said one witness, though other witnesses said the dog was “barking and snarling.”

Gabrielle Stropkai said the cops quickly decided to shoot Kita. “In about five seconds he pulled his weapon, asked whose dog it was, and shot her in the back of the head,” she told KTVB. This was all done in front of her two-year-old son named Hayden.

A police officer killed while responding to a domestic disturbance in a small eastern Pennsylvania borough had pointed a stun gun at two dogs before being shot, court records reveal.

Freemansburg police officer Robert Lasso had pointed at the attacking dogs when the homeowner pulled out a shotgun and fired the fatal blast on Thursday evening.

In police custody, the alleged gunman, 46-year-old George Hitcho Jr, said he had told Mr Lasso to get off his property and not come on unless he had a warrant, authorities said.

‘He tried to kill my dogs and pointed a gun in my face,’ Hitcho said, according to the documents. ‘I do not care if you a cop or not …Unbelievable.’

The officer had been responding to a report of a disturbance and ended up at the back of Hitcho’s house, authorities said.

Police Chief George Bruneio, who arrived after Mr Lasso requested assistance, instructed him to 'shoot the dogs' and that's when the homeowner pulled out a shotgun and fired, authorities said.

DENVER (CN) - A trigger-happy cop Tasered a therapy dog and then shot it to death after it had been caught by a fellow officer - and the abuse was caught on videotape - the dog's disabled owner claims in court.

(KMOV.com) – A Missouri police department is under pressure after an officer was videotaped shooting a dog.

The officer felt he was under attack, but the video has set off a wave of reaction from dog lovers and animal rights advocates, as well as the dog’s owner.

A tragic case of mistaken identity has left the dog who belongs to the owner of a former Veterans building in Vallejo, Calif., dead, reported Wednesday's Mercury News.

The dog, a senior golden retriever, belonged to 83-year-old Ed Boydston, who just bought the building which is located on Alabama Street.

Boydston, a Korean War veteran, was at the newly purchased building in the early evening last Friday; while there, someone phoned the police to report suspicious activity.

Responding police entered the building and called out to announce their presence; Boydston did not hear them, but his dog, "Tiger," did, and when he approached, he was shot one time.

Boydston told Mercury News what he said to the officer:

I said, 'Don't shoot my dog, and I heard very clearly, 'I just did,'

I kind of feel like the dog tripped a shot for me. It could have been me that was shot. I was 10-12 feet away."

The officer's shot to Tiger proved to be fatal; Tiger, described as "sweet," had been Boydston's companion for the last eight years.

Following the death of his companion, Boydston said:

I guess they were justified in doing it,

I don't know about the law, but I guess they had justified rights. Someone reported a burglary."

A dog in Volusia County is recovering after being shot by police, its owner said.

Richard Stotlar said Lady, which he rescued more than a year ago, is now stitched up and in pain after being shot three times about midnight Friday on Elsie Avenue in Holly Hill.

“I was sitting in there, watching TV, and all of a sudden we hear three gunshots,” Stotlar said.

Stotlar said he ran outside and saw officers in his backyard with Lady surrounded. Officers said the dog made an aggressive move.

“She is a big baby. She is not a vicious animal,” Stotlar said.

He said it started when officers came banging on his door, trying to serve a search warrant on a prostitute who Stotlar said doesn't live there.

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“They didn’t even investigate to see where this person lived. I Googled her on my phone, and she was arrested on Nov. 28, so she might still be in jail,” Stotlar said.

"He perked up on his hind legs but not in a scary way. We were so close we saw everything," said Palmer. "It is still ingrained in my head. The leash was still tight. Whatever the police said about him letting go of the leash never, never happened. The leash was still tight, the dog was on his hind legs, and the officer started shooting at him. He shot four times!"

Police in Harvey, Illinois, shot a man in the back of the leg without cause, threatened to “shoot the **** out of” a witness with a camera, then shot to death a witness’s puppy, the wounded man and dog owner claim in federal lawsuits.