A North Vancouver RCMP police dog has been deemed a dangerous offender and been ordered kept inside a kennel or muzzled when not on duty after it bit a gardener who was doing landscape work next door while the dog was home in Langley.
"The dog is considered a dangerous dog under the bylaw," said Darcy Devos, senior animal control officer with the Langley Animal Protection Society, which administers Langley's animal control bylaws.
That means the dog has a "known propensity to attack persons or other animals," said Devos. "The dog must be contained." Devos came up with the dangerous dog label after Astro, a three-year-old German shepherd police dog, last month bit a landscaper who was working on property next door to the Langley home of North Vancouver RCMP Cpl. Shaun Brozer, where the dog lives when off duty.
"The dog had gone through the bush and bit the individual in the arm," said Devos. Devos said the attack by the police dog is concerning. "Mr. Brozer, knowing the type of training the dog had, should have exercised due diligence," in keeping Astro secure on his own property, said Devos.
What concerned him even more is it isn't the first attack by Brozer's police dogs in the Langley neighbourhood, he said.
"There was a history from the residence in terms of dogs being aggressive," said Devos.
Last year, a boy who lives in the neighbourhood was bit by another police dog, Ramo, as the boy played with Brozer's children in their yard. "It was a bad bite," said Devos. Ramo was eventually destroyed.
Devos said he was also told that dogs under Brozer's care had attacked other dogs in the area.
Some of the incidents were never reported, said Devos.
Devos said no dog is allowed to run loose in Langley - whether it's a police dog or not. "We treat them as any other dog."
Since the latest incident, Brozer has been building a fence around his yard and a kennel that Astro will have to remain in. When the police dog isn't working, he will have to be leashed and muzzled when he's off the property.
Brozer will face fines of up to $200 if the dog isn't kept locked up from now on.
Devos said he still doesn't know why Astro bit the gardener next door.
Brozer told Devos it's possible Astro was scared by a weed-eating tool the gardener was using.
Contacted for comment by the North Shore News, Brozer said he's not concerned Astro has been deemed a dangerous dog. "All of our dogs are dogs that could bite someone," he said.
Brozer said he was bathing Astro in the front yard when the dog was startled. He added an internal RCMP investigation into the biting incident is also being completed. None of the officers connected to that investigation were available for comment to press time.
Meanwhile Astro isn't the only dog with police training living at Brozer's Langley home. Chase, another police dog, retired last year after he fell from a roof and broke both front legs. North Vancouver has one of the largest police dog squads on the Lower Mainland, with five handlers and their dogs.
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