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Chelsea Kay of KRCR-TV Supports Shooting, Being A Lapdog

Mar 21, 2012
By .
Politics & Current Events

In the War on Dogs, trigger-happy officers have one boon companion, one stalwart friend, one ally who will never give them up, never let them down: the media.

Just ask Chelsea Kay of KRCRTV.

Chelsea reported on a story about cops shooting dogs. In this case, Redding police were looking for a fugitive, who visited a room in a motel. Police nabbed their man and were arresting him when a dog described as a "boxer puppy" "charged" the officers. The officers, apparently in fear of their lives from the puppy, opened fire, killing the puppy and a pregnant Chihuahua who was "caught in the line of fire."

There are many different angles that a journalist could take in a story about police shooting a charging puppy and gunning down a Chihuahua in the process. A journalist might write a hard-hitting story on whether the officers' fear for their safety is rational. A journalist might ask whether, if officers are shooting puppies in a manner that leaves other dogs "in the line of fire," the officers need retraining in firearms safety and use of force, whether that Chihuahua could just as easily have been a child, whether the officers' assessment of the relative danger of puppies vs. gunplay reflects rational thought.

Chelsea took a different angle:

After Redding Police were forced to kill two dogs Friday night, a Northstate family is now offering two puppies to console the family.

Awwwww ….. what an adorable gift-of-a-puppy human interest story! And since Chelsea has dispatched those nasty, uncomfortable, unpatriotic questions by the fifth word of the story — stating, as a given, that officers were "forced" to shoot a puppy — we can rush headlong into nice thoughts about how puppies are swell.

The press acting as the placid lapdogs of law enforcement is not new and is certainly not limited to cops who kill puppies. What can we do about it? We can seek out multiple news sources and multiple types of news sources. We can view journalists with skepticism. We can write about the issues ourselves. We can call them on their bullshit.

What we shouldn't do is be passive viewers. Doing so is asking to be duped, in a world in which nominally dog-loving journalists write docile, canine stories in support of police shooting puppies.

Chelsea joined the KRCR News Channel Seven News Team in November of 2011.

. . .

In her free time, Chelsea enjoys traveling, watching movies, yoga, and the beach. You'll find her spending time with her friends and family and snuggling with her dog, Rocco.

Watch your back, Rocco.

Hat Tip to Radley Balko, who owns the cops-vs.-dogs topic.

Last 5 posts by Ken White

22 Comments
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22 Comments

  1. Justin M. Stoddard  •  Mar 21, 2012 @8:49 am

    This might explain some of it:

    From her webpage Chelsea Kay: "Growing up with a dad in law enforcement, Chelsea latched on to the thrill of a good story at a very young age."

  2. Al  •  Mar 21, 2012 @8:53 am

    Puppies are bullshit.

  3. mojo  •  Mar 21, 2012 @11:09 am

    Them Chi-hua-huas are vicious little bastards, pregnant or not.

  4. Mad Rocket Scientist  •  Mar 21, 2012 @12:39 pm

    Yep, horribly vicious, they'll grab on and take the finish right off your boot leather.

  5. firehat  •  Mar 21, 2012 @2:41 pm

    I'm pretty sure it's a conflict of interest to report on LE matters when your immediate family includes a cop. That's a pretty serious "I forgot to mention."

  6. SnallaBolaget  •  Mar 21, 2012 @3:01 pm

    To be fair, we should all (yes, I'm including myself and all other bloggers as part of "the media") report on both the good things and the bad things that LE does. As it is, the bad stuff always gets the hype, and the good stuff gets second chair. That's when it's not just turned back at the door, that is.
    Lapdogs? No. Fair? Yes.

  7. Lago  •  Mar 21, 2012 @4:16 pm

    These stories always make my blood boil. Not that i like chihuahuas or anything. But the senseless dog killings by police matters more to me than I care to admit..

  8. Kim Scarborough  •  Mar 21, 2012 @5:06 pm

    The last line of the article: "When an officer kills an animal, the Police Chief reviews it to determine if it was justified." I have to wonder, has the Police Chief ever ruled that an animal killing was not justified? Might be an interesting question that a, y'know, reporter might ask.

  9. shg  •  Mar 21, 2012 @6:30 pm

    "To be fair, we should all (yes, I'm including myself and all other bloggers as part of "the media") report on both the good things and the bad things that LE does."

    You are so right. Today, my local police did not kill a single small-breed dog. Unlike yesterday. Wow, it feels so good to be a positive force for law enforcement.

  10. Diane  •  Mar 21, 2012 @7:16 pm

    Ok and why is this the reporters fault? She did not kill the dog she just reported it! Grow up Redding!

  11. Ken  •  Mar 21, 2012 @7:17 pm

    Thank you, Diane, for bringing up the crisis in modern education.

  12. JC  •  Mar 21, 2012 @7:48 pm

    Rocco has nothing to be concerned about because Rocco has done nothing wrong. Only the dogs that have done something wrong have a reason to be afraid (the chihuahua was an accessory as we all know).

  13. Grandy  •  Mar 21, 2012 @8:10 pm

    As it so happens, your garden variety LE official is very good at determining which dogs have done something wrong and which have not. It's a sixth, or even seventh, sense.

  14. Z  •  Mar 21, 2012 @8:24 pm

    Ken, do you expect hard hitting, independent, unbiased journalism from the U.S. media in 2012?

  15. Paul  •  Mar 22, 2012 @1:15 am

    I think those dogs must have been wearing hoodies

  16. mojo  •  Mar 22, 2012 @8:19 am

    You have to wonder if the other cops give him a ration over it in the locker room…

    "Hey, killah, what up?"
    "Arf! Arf! Arf!"
    "Pooch puncher!"

  17. Mandy  •  Mar 22, 2012 @12:01 pm

    Well, I heard the chihuahua had the "pungent" odor of burning marijuana about her, and the boxer made "furtive gestures," which made the officer "fear for his safety." Only after identifying himself as a police officer and instructing the aforementioned canines to halt was the officer "forced" to "discharge his weapon." Did I miss any?

  18. Mercury  •  Mar 22, 2012 @1:24 pm

    This actually surprises me given my recent experiences although the obvious answer is that dogs aren’t part of the “environment”.

    As far as I can tell, cops these days typically defer all animal issues to the local animal control officer whose job is not to protect people from animals but to protect animals from people. And these muni-employees aren’t the tough-guy, cigar chomping dog catchers with Marines tattoos on their forearms that you may remember from your youth but crunchy, clog-wearing, usually female clipboard holders without weapons of any kind in evidence.

    You could have a rabid looking raccoon/coyote/fisher cat wander onto a playground full of kids and the animal control officer will (after making baby talk to the crazed mammal) close down the playground for however long it takes to avoid “stressing” the animal and under no circumstances will a decision be made on the spot to remove the animal from the area…and God help you if you take matters into your own hands.

  19. Alex  •  Mar 22, 2012 @4:31 pm

    What Ms. Kay is practicing is not journalism, but the other oldest occupation.

  20. Christoph  •  Mar 30, 2012 @10:03 pm

    I don't know, man. I'm a bit sympathetic because boxers kind of freak me out.

    I dated this girl who had one and aside from always being concerned that the dog was going to rip my throat out, I always had to admit she loved him more than me. But since she was screwing me and not him, I let it slide.

  21. Scott Jacobs  •  Mar 30, 2012 @11:47 pm

    But since she was screwing me and not him

    ppft. That you know of.

    I'll just let that percolate in your mind's eye. You're welcome. :)

  22. Jay H Curtis  •  Mar 31, 2012 @7:32 am

    "That you know of."

    Ouch. The question would then have to be whether the dog was better? 8-)