.jpg)
I love watching working animals. As hard as it might be for me to remain professional around a seeing-eye dog, for example, who shouldn’t be petted while it works, I love to observe the first-hand proof of the deep bond that can exist between humans and animals. Pets are such multi-faceted friends and family members, keeping us company and aiding us in real ways as we go through life.
That’s why I’m so horrified to read a story on Yahoo! News about the New Orleans Police Department closing their K-9 unit. The dogs didn’t do anything wrong. It was their partners.
Talk to most human halves of a K-9 unit and they’ll use that terminology for their canine counterparts: these dogs are their partners. Often thrown together in high pressure situations, these dogs and humans look out for each other.
Sadly that did not happen for a police dog on the New Orleans force. It died after a police officer left it locked in a car in the sweltering heat. In response to public outrage over the incident the NOPD has suspended the use of K-9 units until they can be sure their officers receive the proper training.
This comes on the heels of another canine death in the NOPD, when police dog Phantom died after falling down an elevator shaft, dropping 17 stories. While charges have been brought against Jason Lewis, the officer who locked police dog Primo in a squad car, charges against Phantom’s human counterpart Randy Lewis (no relation) were dismissed. The latter case, while still being investigated, was much more likely an accident than the clear negligence and cruelty displayed by Officer Jason Lewis.
I’m completely stunned that the NOPD’s K-9 unit training didn’t previously cover what constitutes ethical treatment of the police dogs. They probably assumed not leaving a dog in a car on a hot day (though dogs shouldn’t be left in cars at all, as it doesn’t take very high temperatures for the situation to become fatal) was common sense, but apparently it wasn’t. Because these dogs rely on their human partners for their safety I believe even presumably “common sense” topics ought to be covered in training.
I’m guessing that such topics will be covered in the updated K-9 training at NOPD. In the meantime, when the NOPD requires a canine unit to make an arrest, they’ll borrow the services from a neighboring township, one that hopefully has higher standards for the officers in their K-9 division.
I know that I’m being harsh. This is an isolated and uncommon incident. Most human cops treat their canine partners with the utmost respect, even giving them police funerals when they die in the line of duty. But that’s just it: the dogs in K-9 units are already exposed to enough dangers that just come with the job. They shouldn’t also have to deal with neglect from their own partners.
Related Articles:
*(This image by mike warren is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
