This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A police officer once advised me that the best defense against an intruder was having a dog.
How does it happen that postal delivery persons and animal control officers and police officers carry pepper spray, yet this officer's first response was to shoot and kill a dog who was doing what dogs do: barking at an intruder and guarding his space. That is in part why we love them.
And how does it happen that the law-abiding and loving owner of this fine animal had to discover him dead, shot in the head? Why did the police do nothing to alert/protect Mr. Kendall, either? I can't imagine they couldn't track him down.
This is an outrage and my heart goes out to Mr. Kendall and his beloved Geist.
Susan N. Pett
Salt Lake City