If you are a Cheers fan, you might recall the classic line of the character Norm Peterson, a bar patron regular who declared, “It’s a dog-eat-dog world, and I’m wearing Milk Bone underwear!”

I sometimes wonder if Norm was, perhaps, a law enforcement prophet of sorts. Animal incidents with police officers are subjects of significant online traction. Sadly, anecdotal evidence suggests that many of the incidents reported online portray law enforcement officers—either directly or indirectly—as callous, heartless executioners of innocent, harmless family pets, livestock, exotic animals, and so forth. Inflammatory headlines do not bode well for the law enforcement profession.