THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, April 28, 1995                 TAG: 9504280528
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: POPLAR BRANCH                      LENGTH: Medium:   62 lines

FAMILY CRIES FOUL WHEN COP KILLS ANGRY DOG THE OFFICER SAYS THAT, KNOWING THE DOG, HIS INSTINCT WAS TO SHOOT

Like any veteran police officer, John J. Riddick knew that responding to a domestic dispute could get ugly.

Within minutes of arriving at the scene of a mother-son argument inside a house on Caroon Road, the Currituck County sheriff's deputy sensed danger and drew his pistol.

Running toward Riddick was the family dog, growling and baring its teeth. Instinctively, Riddick aimed his gun and shot the animal in the head.

Precious, a mixed breed of Labrador retriever and boxer, died at a veterinarian's office several hours later.

The dog's owner, 18-year-old Jennifer Banks, and her mother say the Sunday morning shooting was inexcusable.

The county sheriff believes otherwise.

``Sheriff (Glenn) Brinkley, after a thorough investigation, has determined that Deputy Riddick was justified in shooting the dog,'' said Susan Johnson, a sheriff's department spokeswoman.

But Carol Banks, a single mother of three teenagers, sees things differently.

``I want some answers. I want somebody to tell me and my daughter why he decided to use the gun when he had those other options,'' Carol Banks said. Her family has been traumatized by the incident, she said.

Riddick could have gotten back into his car until the dog, which had shaken loose from its owner's grip, was again restrained, Banks said.

``Everything happened so fast,'' the deputy said Thursday. ``I had no other recourse but to shoot the animal.

``Unless you've been in a situation like that, it's hard to explain,'' added Deputy Riddick, who has served on the Currituck County Sheriff's Department for almost nine years. ``I had Mace on me. But the pistol was the only thing I could think to use. The dog was coming on my right side, and the pistol was on my right side, too.''

Twice during the summer of 1993, Carol Banks was arrested and found guilty of failing to secure the dog to her premises at all times, police said.

A Currituck County ordinance states that pet owners must confine, muzzle and control a vicious or dangerous domestic animal at all times. The county has no leash law.

Banks admitted that the dog had chased walkers on nearby Poplar Branch Road. But she also insisted the spayed female was more bark than bite.

``Precious loved affection,'' she said. ``She had a crooked tail from something that happened when she was young, and when people gave her a lot of affection, that tail would just wag away.''

But Riddick had responded to calls at the Banks home and said the dog was extremely protective on other occasions.

``Last time, the dog was running around the house. They noticed I was scared of it and put the dog in another room,'' he said.

``It's not unusual that our deputies are faced with animals coming after them in the process of answering a call,'' Johnson said.

``What is unusual is, after a dog is restrained, for it to continue to try and reach the officer. And that's what this dog did.'' by CNB