Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

The police can only use reasonable force under the circumstances known to them at the time. If they see an unleashed, unconfined pit bull, they have a legitimate concern as to being bitten. How much of a danger that represents is a guess, but a judge or jury probably would side with the officer. Under the law, the dog is considered to be just personal property so the compensation for killing the dog would be the cost of replacing it with a similar dog.

I respectfully disagree with attorney Shers. Thug cops who shoot family pets have been held liable for significant sums of money in civil rights lawsuits. I would like to hear from you. But your ultimate probability of success depends on a variety of factors. As Shers points out, nobody is going to care very much about your pit bull.

I agree with Mr. Shers. It depends on whether the officers acted in self defense, or were just being jerks.