It is something of a doggie whodunit. Citizens in Olathe, Kansas are debating the killing of a six pound Yorkie named Precious. Carl Henrichson is accused of killing Precious by standing on her while he claims that he was protecting his larger Labrador dog from a neighborhood menace.
Certain facts are not in dispute. Precious got loose one morning and ran barking and yipping at Herichson’s dog. Henrichson says that Precious had previously attacked him and his dog. Henrichson stepped on Precious he said to keep her down. However, some witnesses said that he put his foot on her and then lifted the other foot to crush her. She suffered from lung and brain injuries and had to be put down.
Precious’ owner Donna Limbaugh has complained and police are investigating. She has also asked for a restraining order on Henrichson who she fears. Working in favor of Precious is her weight and size. However, people are usually given the benefit of the doubt in confrontations with dogs off the leash who are barking or snapping at them. Here Henrichson will claim a history of aggression and a miscalculation as to his weight and the impact on the dog.
Limbaugh has been given citations for a dog off a leash and other violations. She denies that Precious ever threatened Henrichson or his labrador and notes the diminutive size of Precious.
What do you think? If Henrichson stood on the dog, is it excessive force even if Precious was snapping at his dog?
Source: KSHB
I love all dogs, but the question since this is a legal blog, is what he did a crime? I don’t think so. It was wrong, unnecessary, but I am hard pressed to see a violation of law. In the first place, I wonder how the hell he got his foot on top of the dog. It is damned hard to do that to a dog that is running around, so the fact is that the dog was probably pretty strongly attached to either the guys dog or his leg by biting either one. I think it was most likely the dog had hold of his pants with his mouth. Then he had the question how to get the dog off his leg. I am a big fan of Cesar Millan, and I have seen even Cesar get nailed by small dogs and bleed all over the place. So given that the dog was on his property, attacking him, it is hard to see any violation of the law here.
Zari, good analogy- Zimmerman and Carl Henrichson and both creepy bullies-& both used excessive force, both belong in jail!
@Woosty:…”When creepy assh*les tell these sorts of bs stories to cover their actions how do they manage to be believed?”
George Zimmerman with a gun so afraid for his life against a skinny teenager. that’s how…
She suffered from lung and brain injuries and had to be put down.
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Brain injury from being stepped on implies a broken skull. Or severe contusion. In addition to lung damage…well that is a broad area of crushing to inflict that sort of damage that can not be healed. Animals getting hit by cars suffer TBI’s and survive. They suffer whole body contusions with punctured lungs and broken skulls and broken bones and they are healed.
When creepy assh*les tell these sorts of bs stories to cover their actions how do they manage to be believed?
OS,
Agreed. And raff’s observation as well about big dogs. I used to have Great Danes. Wonderful critters. But uniformly, when challenged by a little dog (and most medium sized dogs), they either ignored them or at most might give a single large bark to silence them. Of the large breeds I’ve had experience with (GD’s, St. Bernards, New Foundlands, Mastiffs), they all know exactly how big they are and what they can do vis a vis other dogs.
I am not a fan of small dogs, but I have yet to meet a dog that size that could inflict any real damage. Some little dogs are evil-tempered, but certainly not dangerous. I wonder if Carl would have tried that on the German Shepherd I used to have? Or my grandson’s Rottweiler? Never mind. I already know the answer to that.
Anyone who would do such a thing is both a coward and sadist.
“I hope they bring criminal animal cruelty charges against him.”
I’ve lived in Olathe. I have good friends who still live in Olathe. As appalling as this guy’s actions were, that’s probably not going to happen and if it does, they’ll plead him out.
No excuse for what this man did and clearly not a case of reasonable self defense. He killed the dog because he wanted to, not because he had to. I hope they bring criminal animal cruelty charges against him.
I agree that this guy was way out of line, but I have run into Yorkies and they can bite and be mean too. Maybe not as bad as Chihuahuas as Mike S. stated. I have had this problem when I walk our Lab on a leash and it is hard to get the pesky dog away from my dog and the owner was of no use in my situation. That being said, it does not give me the right to kill the pesky dog. I wonder if the guy who killed this Yorkie had shot him could he argue self defense or use the Stand Your Ground law?
A horrendous overreaction. How does the guy face his neighbors and coworkers?
I am quite familiar with Yorkies since my brother has owned dogs of this breed for many years. A Yorkie couldn’t harm a person or another dog if it tried. They simply lack the power and their jaws are not capable of inflicting any kind of serious damage. This man killed the dog in what was an act of anger and certainly not in protection of his own dog. This is not to say that some small dogs can’t be vicious and inflict harm. Avoid Chihuahuas for instance, but even they are easily dealt with without getting hurt yourself or harming the dog. Bad guy, vicious act.
If you take the time to view the video, you will see the stomper is the size of a linebacker. Mel, off leash is a citation not a death warrant. It was an accident, you know like when you let the parking meter expire, not a capital crime.
Forgive my typo’s.
I understand his anger. I cannot condone his actions.
He should be held responsible for his actions which clearly were the result of rage from prior encounters. I would say that he most likely had said many time before “I hate that dog”.
The self defense excuse is extremely poor. That is like a grown health man claiming self defense against a 2 year old toddler.
It is a shame that the dogs owner was not responsible enough to realize that she was placing her dog in harms way by allowing it to roam free.
Having delivered mail for 35 years I am a professional dog kicker atter. :o)
I am successful connecting with the dog about 1 in every 5 attempts. They are amazingly quick, (or I’m slow) This has always been my FINAL choice to protect myself from getting bit. A missed kick will slow most dogs down, break their charge, and they often rethink the initial aggression. However I have walked backwards in retreat very often because most dogs (the aggressive ones) do not give up. They will charge the second I turn my back on them, thus causing me to turn and have to break their charge again. Yorkies and small breeds are amazingly aggressive at times. Mailmen attacking and dominating seem to be their purpose in life, LOL.
The quicker I retreat and get away from their property the better.
I have had my ankles bit (or pants socks) maybe 10 times.
I do not support this A-hole crushing the dog. He would have been better off getting bit and suing. … I have a 1000 dog stories, each one has differences. I often would talk to the owner and explain I do not want to kick or hurt your dog, would you please keep it contained. I have maced attacking dogs (it does not always work) but almost always the owner gets upset with me, I have had very few problems with responsible dog owners.
My verdict:
What the man did is indefensible, and the law should punish him.
The yorkie’s owner is entitled to zero compensation. The entire incident could have been avoided by her keeping her dog on leash as the law requires.
We have an eight pound Yorkie and a Shepherd-Lab mix, the Yorkie will yip and bark at the bigger dog and he just ignores the Yorkie. Although the larger dog could easily harm the Yorkie he chooses not to, apparently dogs are smarter than people.
If you could eliminate all PITA then not many would be alive today…. I think I agree with Bob….
Unjustifiable use of force.
If the yorkie was yapping and snapping at the other dog it could have just been pushed away with a foot or something just effective enough to move the two dogs from each other.
Animal Laws tend to be widely construed to allow a pet/farm animal owner to kill dogs that are attacking their animals. I don’t see this as being absolute. This yorkie is not a coyote that broke into a chicken house and began marauding the hens.
I’m not buying this man’s excuse either. He claims to be threatened, which I do not believe. But what is more incredible is he claims this was an accident. How does one by accident kick a 6 lb dog four feet into the air out into a street? Then also, by accident, hold the dog down with one foot and stomp in it with the other. I think it is more likely he wanted to kick the dog into the street and went to finish it off by stepping on it as he did. What did he expect, that an animal weighing 2 to 3 percent of his body weight would be able to withstand being stepped on by him?
I have personally investigated many dog attack complaints and the excuse offered by this man doesn’t cut the mustard in my book. There has to be a real threat from another dog before there is justifiable use of force. Just because it is barking and yapping doesn’t grant license to kill it in a cruel fashion.
Excessive force. The Yorkie threatened the life of no one. You can’t set a precedent allowing for the arbitrary execution neighborhood dogs.