The amount of dogs being shot by Detroit police officers dwarfs the number of even far larger cities. Roughly two-thirds of these are strays. At the root of the problem are the residents of Detroit abandoning dogs in extremely high numbers. Many of these are pit bulls purchased or bred by gang members.
There are so many violent stray pit bulls and other large dogs that adult men are being mauled. Two months ago, a 58-year-old male was killed by multiple stray pit bulls. The violent strays also kill other people’s pet dogs.
However, Detroit police are accused of killing an unusually high number of pet dogs as well. Many are pet dogs who belonged to someone that was not even a crime suspect.
