He's been a police officer for more than 20 years, and an active K-9 handler for 14 years. But now, a St. Paul cop is recovering after being attacked by - not his -but another canine cop.
It was the talk of the police K-9 competition held in Moorhead this week. The freak accident that happened to one of their own: Officer Mark Ficcadenti, the head trainer for the St. Paul police department's K-9 unit, is widely recognized as one of the best in the country.
But even Ficcadenti's 16-years of training police K-9's couldn't prepare him for what happened five days ago at the international K-9 conference in Lansing, Michigan, where Ficcadenti was working off-duty as a consultant.
Ficcadenti's colleagues at the conference say, as he was walking by a car, someone had let the window down to provide fresh air for a canine. Ficcadenti heard a bark, turned, and the dog lunged through the opening and bit him in the face.
Ficcadenti was rushed to the hospital where doctors surgically repaired his face. He's currently back in Minnesota recuperating.
"Police dogs or any dog, they're animals and they're all unpredictable," says Minneapolis police Sgt. Dan May. He is well aware of the risks in training K-9's, and has the scars to prove it. They came from his last partner, before Elvis here.
May says, "He turned on me, and bit me bad in both arms. I ended up staying in the hospital three days because the bites got infected.”
May says all dogs are territorial, and police K-9's become especially protective of squad cars, where they spend a lot of their time. That's why all K-9 squads are now re enforced with a steel grill. What happened to Ficcadenti, who was considered a consummate professional, will probably now serve as a lesson to all K-9 cops. That even when it's a cops best friend, you can never completely let your guard down.
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