The Somerset Police Department has suspended its K-9 program after its police dog bit an unidentified man during a hunting trip. According to Somerset Police Chief Doug Briggs, the incident took place at a hunting cabin in Douglas County during the early morning hours of Nov. 24. Xaro was staying at the cabin with his handler, Sergeant Michael Kappers, and a group of men.
The man bitten by Xaro was treated at the hospital and received several stitches, according to Briggs. Briggs declined to say what might have prompted the dog to bite the man, saying that the department is still in the process of interviewing witnesses.
Briggs said that the department took the immediate step of suspending the program until the department could determine exactly what happened.
"The dog is off the street," said Briggs. "He won't be performing any duties until we figure out what happened, why it happened and until we review the whole thing."
Briggs said the department is treating the incident seriously. "The department is extremely concerned about the public's confidence in the K-9 program," said Briggs. "That is why we are doing a detailed review of the whole thing."
Briggs said that the department filed a veterinarian report on the incident and has been in contact with the St. Paul Police Department, which originally trained the dog.
Briggs said that in addition to reviewing the incident, the department will probably also use the opportunity to review the overall program.
Like many departments, the department's police dog lives full-time with the police officer it is assigned to. The officer is then responsible for the dog's health and welfare.
"When you have a police dog, it's almost like having another kid. It's another job," said Briggs. "Are we placing too big of a burden on our dog handler?"
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. NoNonsense English offers this material non-commercially for research and educational purposes. I believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, i.e. the media service or newspaper which first published the article online and which is indicated at the top of the article unless otherwise specified.