I ran back across Connecticut, until forced to vault a chain link fence for protection. Only minutes later, the LPD/Animal Control arrived and I realized someone else must have had an earlier encounter with the dogs, as I had no time to call.

After reading: “Police kill pit bull; owner protests,” Mike Belt’s slanted tear-jerk formula journalism and then Richard Cook’s letter to the editor, I was dismayed at the unfair portrayal of that incident.

I watched the entire series of events unfold, from a safe distance. The “poking stick” that Justin Podramides refers to in the article, was a restraining pole used to safely subdue animals, not “a stick”! For nearly half an hour officers carefully tried to catch the animals, only to have them charge and elude capture. It was only in the last possible second that the officer, protecting himself, fired on the dog charging directly at him.

It is always the animal that pays for the poor judgement of careless owners. I wish that all those who choose to keep such animals, would also assume full responsibility for their actions and not project blame on others.

I appreciate the work of the officials involved in that very tenuous situation. Thank you!

Tom Overholser,

Lawrence