SWAT Team Shoots Family Pets as Child Watches

That video made me very sick and very sad. I cannot believe that happened in my country.

How did this happen in the United States of America? My heart goes out to that small child.

I would have hunted down and killed everyone of those shithead cops if they broke into my house and pulled that.

Wow what an eye-opener,who would have thought police acting like Gestapo Storm troopers and terrorizing their own people
very alarming this should happen in the home of the free and the brave

Prohibition is a sickening horror and the ocean of incompetence, corruption and human wreckage it has left in its wake is almost endless.

Prohibition has decimated generations and criminalized millions for a behavior which is entwined in human existence, and for what other purpose than to uphold the defunct and corrupt thinking of a minority of misguided, self-righteous Neo-Puritans and degenerate demagogues who wish nothing but unadulterated destruction on the rest of us.

Based on the unalterable proviso that drug use is essentially an unstoppable and ongoing human behavior which has been with us since the dawn of time, any serious reading on the subject of past attempts at any form of drug prohibition would point most normal thinking people in the direction of sensible regulation.

By its very nature, prohibition cannot fail but create a vast increase in criminal activity, and rather than preventing society from descending into anarchy, it actually fosters an anarchic business model - the international Drug Trade. Any decisions concerning quality, quantity, distribution and availability are then left in the hands of unregulated, anonymous, ruthless drug dealers, who are interested only in the huge profits involved.

Many of us have now, finally, wised up to the fact that the best avenue towards realistically dealing with drug use and addiction is through proper regulation which is what we already do with alcohol & tobacco, clearly two of our most dangerous mood altering substances. But for those of you whose ignorant and irrational minds traverse a fantasy plane of existence, you will no doubt remain sorely upset with any type of solution that does not seem to lead to the absurd and unattainable utopia of a drug free society.

There is an irrefutable connection between drug prohibition and the crime, corruption, disease and death it causes. If you are not capable of understanding this connection then maybe you're using something far stronger than the rest of us. Anybody 'halfway bright', and who's not psychologically challenged, should be capable of understanding that it is not simply the demand for drugs that creates the mayhem, it is our refusal to allow legal businesses to meet that demand.

No amount of money, police powers, weaponry, diminution of rights and liberties, wishful thinking or pseudo-science will make our streets safer, only an end to prohibition can do that. How much longer are you willing to foolishly risk your own survival by continuing to ignore the obvious, historically confirmed solution?

If you still support the kool aid mass suicide cult of prohibition, and erroneously believe that you can win a war without logic and practical solutions, then prepare yourself for even more death, corruption, terrorism, sickness, imprisonment, unemployment, foreclosed homes, and the complete loss of the rule of law and the Bill of Rights.

"A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded."
Abraham Lincoln

The only thing prohibition successfully does is prohibit regulation & taxation while turning even our schools and prisons into black markets for drugs. Regulation would mean the opposite!

Malcolm, walk away from the bong, just slowly walk away.

Your arguments would be much better made if you didn't exaggerate with NORML talking points. Tobacco and Alcohol more mood altering than Crystal Meth, Heroin, Coke, Crack and LSD? Come on little bro, you've been smoking too much.

As with anything, there has to be a balance. Anarchist notions of complete drug legalization is silly and have proved to NOT work in Amsterdam despite that being used as a prime example. Legalize pot, and focus on crimes committed by any pot heads, not their habits. As far as "hard drugs go" start with Pot then see how it goes. I highly doubt legalizing crack or heroin will be beneficial to our society and would bet that if that were to happen, it would have far worse consequences than the Drug War has now -- even with these horrific raids.

"I would have hunted down and killed everyone of those shithead cops if they broke into my house and pulled that."
AMEN.

This is a very serious criminal offense by the police department. How in the world do you convict these people. It needs to be done.

I'm with Malcolm and Abraham Lincoln up there

This is what happens when you allow the police to get unlimited power.

It's happening here in AZ and as a Hispanic man I am so mad. We need a revolution, and fast.

@ Sarah

I travel to Amsterdam a couple of times a year...yes, for business and not as a drug tourist. I don't know where you are getting your information from but it isn't correct. Amsterdam is having NO problems with drugs or users. You can freely walk around town without any problems. None. No one bothers you at all. No problems. There are some tourists that haven't ever used cannabis that go overboard their first time but those are rare. The coffee shops are getting better about educating tourists on the effects of their wares.

Again, travel to Amsterdam and see for yourself. It's a nice place. I wish I could live there. There is NOT a drug problem in Amsterdam. Geez, where do you people come up with this stuff...the ONDCP?

If something is not done to the these cops, there is no freedom in this country. Freedom is in the eyes of the beholder. I feel less free in United States than any other countries that I lived in. I lived in many countries. Mark the names of the police chief and the mayor down. If they do nothing, make sure they don't serve in a public office, EVER!

I agree with Malcolm and Lincoln.

We certainly didn't learn from prohibition. This sort of thing shouldn't be going on in the U S of A, but it is.

@ TYC

I think you didn't get my point. My fault for not being clear. The drug legalization crowd uses Amsterdam as the poster child for legalization of ALL drugs. They leave everyone with the impression that HARD drugs are legal there which is not true. They experimented with a program and it did not go well -- I visited during this time and the streets were much uglier. Pot? Who cares except for power hungry cops. But the drug legalization debate cannot be won by using Amsterdam as an example because it's flat out not true that drugs are legal there. Pot isn't even legal but they choose not to enforce. There is no modern Western nation that legalizes HARD drugs. Therefore legalization talk is simply theory.

These dogs were CRATED. Cops (SWAT team included) need to be trained canine behavior and proper restraint.

Sad the family pet died, yes. It is a fact that every person who is actually CONVICTED of a crime has skated on at least 3 other crimes and not punished.
What the shame is here is that people are upset the family pet died. How horrible is it that the father was a drug addict with needles, pipes, etc in the home with the child.

Put an end to the sensationalism and overreacting and look at he facts. Daddy was a drug dealer/user and created an unsafe environment for his family (including the pet). Had he not been, this most likely never would have happened.

My proof? I have NEVER had the police, SWAT, Army or National Guard swarm my home looking for drug paraphernalia. Why? Because I’m not a drug addict/dealer nor do I associate with them.

Common sense people!

Sorry but that's a complete fabrication. Needles and being a drug addict? They guy was a pot smoker, not even a distributor. Also saying that "a person convicted of a crime has skated on at least 3 others" is a bit too Minority Report for my liking.

We are a nation of laws and even cops must respect them. You can't break into home and terrorize a family by shooting their pets over a misdemeanor.

Now that I think about it, Columbia SWAT are terrorists. If they use terrorist tactics to achieve their goal then that's what they are. Someone call Homeland Security.

If they had barged into my home and shot my dog they would then have to shot me as well. I am retired lawenforcement and my dog is my best friend, companion, and member of my family. There was no justification for shoting the dogs at all.Columbia Police Dept. needs to get their shit together and I hope the officers that fired the shots get disciplinary action and the city is sued. They had at least three other options before using deadly force. That is outrageous but every department has bad apples.

This police action is at best, heavy handed and unwarranted and at worst, thuggish and brutal. You have only to look at video of Police operating in the USA and then compare it with the way they act in European countries.
The modern world means that the brutality of communist and fascist regimes is revealed for all the world to see. It is therefore both sobering and very dissappointing to see that a country which prides itself on personal liberty and the rule of law can not only have things like we just saw here happen over a misdemeanor but that the authorities will try to justify it later! What has become of America?

Sorry pothead. That's so disingenuous it's funny. The legalization crowd always wants to compare apples to oranges. Few of them have had a loved one die or be worse than dead due to drug use. I've never seen anyone try and whore themselves or their children out for a pack of Lucky Strikes but it happens each day with Crack, Heroin and Meth.

The fact of the matter is that the father broke the law. Whether you agree with the laws currently in place or not, what he was doing was illegal. By breaking the law, even if he thought it was an unnecessary one, he invited trouble into his home. By breaking the law he was an incredibly irresponsible parent and animal owner. The fault lies solely with the father. If you have a problem with the laws, put down the pipe and do what you can to enact change. What a nation of whiners you all are, run something besides your mouth for a change.

It seems like America is becoming a police state. The police are more violent than the population they are supposed to be protecting. Her is a child who will never turn to a police officer when they need help. It would be incredibly sad if it weren't also so very frightening.

That is absolutely 100% the most upsetting thing I have ever seen in my life, I dont understand how those despicable pieces of shit are allowed to walk the streets.

QUOTE BY Jen (The fact of the matter is that the father broke the law. Whether you agree with the laws currently in place or not, what he was doing was illegal. By breaking the law, even if he thought it was an unnecessary one, he invited trouble into his home. By breaking the law he was an incredibly irresponsible parent and animal owner. The fault lies solely with the father. If you have a problem with the laws, put down the pipe and do what you can to enact change. What a nation of whiners you all are, run something besides your mouth for a change.)

Your a fucking Idiot, That is all!

They dont make it legal to smoke Pot, yet they make it legal to kill an unborn child in the belly of its mother... Go figure...