Max

When Andrea Hill’s 6-year-old son went missing, she called police to help with the search. They showed up, and Hill’s mom — with the confusing last name of Linda Hall (one letter off) — put the dog in a bedroom. Then, they went to look for the kid, but when they came back, Andrea had let the dog out of the bedroom.

They came to the house and promptly killed Hill’s dog, which I’m sure — somehow, perhaps holistically — helps in their search for the child.

First, the Deputy Chief’s story:

“Basically, he came out and started attacking the officer. He got to the degree where he was growling, had his mouth open trying to bite the officer. You have an officer that’s being viciously attacked by a 60-pound dog, and he had no choice.”

Now, Hall’s version of the story (from someone who was actually there):

“He opened that door and he shot the dog in the face. The dog came at his shoe, but he didn’t bite him. He didn’t hurt him. He was getting at his shoe to try to get him to leave.”

But wait, it gets worse. It turns out that Max was medically-trained to alert the family when Andrea, an epileptic, was having a seizure. A few weeks later, without the dog to alert the family, Andrea had a seizure and died. The police, of course, were sympathetic:

“We’re sorry for her death, for the destruction of the dog, but I think we reacted properly.”

Yes, “following protocol,” no doubt.

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