An 83-year-old Northwest Side man's arm has been amputated after he was attacked this week by a retired Pima County Sheriff's Department patrol dog, Sheriff Clarence W. Dupnik said today. The dog was put to sleep by by Pima Animal Care Center at the request of its owner, Sheriff's Deputy John Summey, said Deputy Dawn Barkman, a sheriff' spokeswoman.
"It's a tragic accident," Dupnik said.
But, he stressed the dog did not belong to the department when it attacked the man Tuesday morning outside his home on West San Lucas Drive, near North La Canada Drive and West Orange Grove Road.
Even so, Dupnik said he would review his policy allowing deputies to keep retired patrol dogs that had been assigned to them.
Alexander L. Dufour was taken to University Medical Center after the attack, the report says. His arm was amputated that day, Dupnik said. Dufour was listed this morning in fair condition at UMC, a nursing supervisor said.
Dufour's son and daughter-in-law could not be reached this morning. The elder Dufour declined interview requests, Ginny Geib, a hospital spokeswoman said.
The dog, "Bronco," a 10- to 11-year-old male, Belgian Malinois, was retired from service in December and given to Summey, his handler, after Summey signed a liability release, according to documents from the Sheriff's Department.
The dog, purchased January, 1998 by the department was trained as a patrol and bomb dog, according to a news release issued mid-morning today.
In the liability release, Summey promised "to take full and sole responsibility for the conduct of Bronco."
Summey told Deputy James I. Miyata that he had let Bronco out his kennel into an enclosed yard.
When Summey returned to the yard he found the dog gone, and went searching for him. He spotted the dog about a block from his home and saw the dog "was on bite on an elderly male," Miyata wrote.
Summey called 911 asking for an ambulance, a sheriff's deputy and a Pima Animal Care Center officer to be sent, Miyata said, adding that when he got there Summey had the dog tied to a tree.
An animal care center officer took the dog, Miyata wrote.
Regarding the policy to let deputies keep retired dogs, Dupnik said, "we have two options," let the handler keep the dog or put the dog to sleep.
"The dogs are trained attack dogs," Dupnik said.
But, he stressed, "This could have happened to the same dog while he was in service."
Dupnik said he asked the Tucson Police Department to conduct an investigation. That is because the dog's owner is a deputy and the dog is a retired sheriff's patrol dog, said Deputy Dawn Barkman, a sheriff's spokeswoman.
Sgt. Carlos Valdez, a police spokesman, said his department will investigate, but he could not comment on the case until he had a chance to review reports.
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