LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga - Gwinnett police say they have no plans to retire a dog that attacked two officers, seriously injuring one, within the past month.
Police say K-9 Falco, a 3-year-old tracking and drug-sniffing Belgian Malinios, was just reacting to perceived aggression toward his trainer, Officer J. Conklin.
There are no plans to pull Falco from active duty, said Maj. D.L. Bruno, who supervises the Gwinnett Police K-9 unit. In the past year, Conklin and Falco have arrested 67 people together, more than any other of the five K-9 teams in the unit.
In the first incident, Conklin and Falco were looking for a DUI suspect in a dark, wooded area, when Conklin tripped near another officer. Falco thought his trainer was being assaulted and clamped onto the officers arm, causing a severe injury.
That officer is recovering and expected to eventually regain full use of his arm, Bruno said.
Several weeks later, Falco chomped again when a group of off-duty officers were watching a baseball playoff game. One officer suddenly stood up and cheered next to the dog, who reacted by tearing his pants and scratching his leg, Bruno said.
Bruno insisted, though, that dog bites are an occupational hazard.
All the K-9 officers have been bit during training, Bruno said. If I were to make an aggressive move toward the dog right now, the dog would probably bite me. The uniform is meaningless to the dog.
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