Repression and Police Dog Abuse - News Reports of Brutality involving Police Dogs

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2002 News Reports	2001 (and earlier) News Reports	General Police Dog and Legal Info	History of Police Dog Abuse

Repression and Police Dog Abuse - Archive of articles from 2003

Click here for latest police dog abuse archives...
Dog bites, injures officer (Dec. 23, 2003 / Record Journal) "We would love to be able to control them one hundred percent, but, it is a dog," commented Sgt. Leonard Caponigro.
Officers Say Race Affected Assignments (Dec. 18, 2003 / Washington Post) "Eight officers accuse the District and the Metropolitan Police Department in a new lawsuit of breaking up their canine squad because most of the squad's officers were white ... The officers claim in the lawsuit that other officers placed drawings of Ku Klux Klan members in their lockers and gave them "heil Hitler" salutes as they passed...."
Master Biter (Dec. 11, 2003 / MetroActive News) "...a supersecret Sept. 17 report from the county counsel's investigator Sgt. David Langley sounds a larger warning bell about the evolutionary state of human-canine relationships. Specifically, the investigation report implies a frightening inability of a police canine handler to pry her dog off another creature. In a taped interview, one witness described a desperate Wilbanks 'crying and screaming at Scooby to get off Jake'.... Though she refused, witnesses also apparently asked Wilbanks to shoot the dog...." (for previous info, see May 25 2003 articles in this archive)
Stratford High School - "All right, bring the dogs down" announces a loudspeaker voice after students have been handcuffed
Police didn't follow rules on using drug dogs at high school (Dec. 7, 2003 / AP) "...More than 100 students were in the hallway that morning as a police dog passed close by, barking and excitedly sniffing their backpacks. At one point, the dog grabs a backpack with its mouth and shakes it.... The department's procedure on 'illegal narcotics detection' states, 'Only after the on-scene supervisor has cleared the area of all personnel will the canine enter and conduct an illegal narcotics detection'.... In a lawsuit filed Friday students say they felt frightened as the dog passed by and they say the dog was unruly and appeared to be unresponsive to commands.... Follow-up: Parents Sue Over Drug Raid at South Carolina School (Dec. 15, 2003 / Reuters); Hundreds March As Jackson Leads (December 17, 2003 / Post and Courrier); Mediation Attempt Fails in Raid Lawsuit (May 14, 2004 / The State); McMaster labels police action ‘inappropriate’ (July 3, 2004 / The State) "Characterizing police officers’ conduct as improper but not criminal, the state’s attorney general will not file charges in a high school drug raid in which guns were drawn and students ordered to the floor. “The tactics were good tactics for a crack house, a drug den or a methamphetamine lab, but highly inappropriate tactics for a school house,” said S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster..... “That is state-tolerated tyranny that leaves black people unprotected and distrusting of the judicial system,” the Rev. Jesse Jackson, founder and president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, said. The raid was planned and targeted black children, Jackson said. “By not punishing those who are involved, it creates an atmosphere of tolerance.” Jackson said the decision could lead to another protest march...."; See also Armed Police Invade High School, No Drugs Found (Nov. 2003 / MemoryHole) for articles plus many photos.
Senior drug detectives face court (Dec. 6, 2003 / The Age) "[Detective Senior Constable David] Miechel was mauled by a police dog when arrested on the day before police raided a house in Dublin Street, Oakleigh East.... Miechel had surgery for facial injuries from the dog attack. Among the charges he faces is an allegation he assaulted the dog's police handler...."
Plantation police dog's bite leads to legal action (Nov. 30, 2003 / South Florida Sun Sentinel) "Santa the police dog ruined a homeless man's Christmas last year by biting his hand, and earlier this year that homeless man, Gregory Majerus, sued the city...."
Wanted: quarries for police dogs (Nov. 21, 2003 / The Province) "...West Vancouver police are seeking a couple of people ... fearless, superbly fit folk willing to work for $8.50 an hour and let themselves be hunted down and chewed on...."
Bulawayo bystander bitten and detained, Nov. 18, 2003
Arrested for handing out sweets (Nov. 18, 2003 / kubatana.net) "...The officer with the megaphone told his troops to advance and dogs were brought out. They advanced and people began to walk calmly away but the officer then ordered us to be beaten. Riot Police prodded us in the back saying we should disperse, the officer egged them on and they started to prod us telling us to run. We answered back saying that we would not run as the dogs would bite us. Run we were told and beaten until some of us ran and of course the dogs bit several people...."
In Connecticut, Two Versions of a Police Dog's Attack on a Woman (Nov. 17, 2003 / New York Times) "The police say that when they tried to arrest Jean Church for welfare fraud last January at her apartment in a public housing complex here, she refused to cooperate, flailing her arms and shouting obscenities. So the police dog accompanying the arresting officers was ordered to attack her. The dog, a German shepherd named Niko, tore into her, leaving a constellation of punctures and tears on her thighs and groin. Seventy-five stitches and 11 months later, Ms. Church, 53, still uses a wheelchair to get around, and she and her son, Matthew Baldoz, have filed an intention to sue the city of New London for police brutality. The welfare fraud charge was dropped when the police discovered it stemmed from a false complaint...."
Woman Who Nearly Lost Arm To K-9 Cop Plans Lawsuit (Nov. 11, 2003 / KOAT)
Rottweiler sinks its teeth into crime (Nov. 9, 2003 / The Scotsman) "Rottweilers are set to replace Alsatians as the first choice for Scottish police forces who believe the ferocious reputation of the ‘devil dogs’ will be a bonus in the fight against crime...."
Officers investigated over police dog’s use (Nov. 5, 2003 / Indianapolis Star) "Indianapolis police are investigating officers' conduct during a weekend chase that left a suspect with puncture wounds from a police dog's bites....Police have a video of the incident but won't say what's on it. The investigation was initiated by a police supervisor who saw the video. The specific officers who are being questioned were not identified, although the dog's handler was listed on a report as Patrolman Charles Lewis....A police report released Tuesday provided details of the chase but excludes any information about the confrontation. Police declined to elaborate, pending the outcome of the investigation...."
Edmonds Police Dog Put To Sleep (Nov. 4, 2003 / KOMO TV) "...Joe Bennett, a lawyer representing two of the five dog-bite victims, has filed claims with the city of Edmonds. Bennett said that the dog was "erratic" and that Edmonds police should have addressed its biting well before the most recent attack. At least two of the dog bite victims have sued the city of Edmonds. One of them, Adam Taylor, 19, a community college student, filed a $1 million damage claim last year, saying he was bitten 10 times by Nico...."; see also: Police dog put to death for indiscriminate biting (Nov. 5, 2003 / Daily Herald); Wayward Edmonds police dog put to sleep (Nov. 4, 2003 / Seattle Times); [Ed. note: the idea that the dog was responsible is ridiculous. The handler is responsible for controlling the dog. If the dog is in any way unmanageable, it is the handler's responsibility to deal with this training issue before it becomes a threat to the public. In this case, the handler did not secure her dog properly and left it unattended in this condition. Nico's death only diverts attention from the real issue: a handler's irresponsible behaviour]; Jogger bit by police dog files $520,000 damage claim (Nov. 29, 2003 / AP) "...According to the claim, the dog walked away after the initial attack, then came back and bit Barnett again after she tried to get up and go home. She eventually crawled through a drainage ditch and walked about a quarter-mile home after she was out of the dog's sight.... Officials acknowledged that Barnett was the fifth innocent person the dog had bitten in as many years...."
Bernalillo Activist Hospitalized After Fleeing From Police (Oct. 30, 2003 / AP) "A woman who's been circulating a petition seeking removal of the Bernalillo mayor and a Bernalillo councilor has been mauled by a police dog following a chase...."
K9 bites policeman at protest in Sydney, Australia
Parliament greets Bush: A day in the life of our faltering democracy (Oct. 24, 2003 / Sydney Morning Herald) "Police dog bites cop outside Parliament House. Inside, Bob Brown breaks through a Coalition human shield to shake the hand of George Bush. The Australian people see the unprecedented scuffle between OUR politicians in OUR parliament because CNN defied orders from our government not to film in our Parliamentary chamber....
Students Claim Excessive Force (Oct. 22, 2003 / Hartford Courant) "Several students have filed complaints against University of Connecticut police after they said officers used excessive force - Mace and a police dog - to subdue a crowd earlier this month during a party at the African American Cultural Center...."
Cranky police dog bites two Gwinnett officers(October 21, 2003 / AP) "...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.... 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.... [Maj. D.L. Bruno, who supervises the Gwinnett Police K-9 unit] insisted, though, that dog bites are an occupational hazard...."
Pomona police dog puts bite on innocent bystander (October 19, 2003 / AP) A police dog pursuing a suspected car thief put the bite on an innocent bystander, authorities said, leaving the man with a gash on his arm that took seven stitches to close.
Police unit back in dog box (Oct. 17, 2003 / news24)
Police dog bites detective (Oct. 15, 2003 / AP) "A police dog tackled and bit a detective who was chasing a burglary suspect. Undercover investigator Kevin Blair, 37, had bites to his calf and both triceps and needed several stitches to close the wounds, inspector Mike Kerwin told The Post-Standard of Syracuse...."
Sacked: Jake the police dog! (Oct. 14, 2003 / BBC) Jake's handler, PC Graham Fradsham, says: "As he matured he decided he liked people .... One of the dog's main roles is to defend its handler, if they've lost the will to bite they won't defend us." This spin is predictable, coming from the police.... A more balanced way of putting it would be that Jake developed the will to resist being someone else's tool of violence. Jake became a K9 conscientious objector.
Inquiry Opens On Woman Mauled By Police Dog (Oct. 10, 2003 / The Nation)
Dog bites deputy (Oct. 1, 2003 / Herald and News) "...Police dogs are supposed to take a bite out of crime, but a highly trained canine sank his teeth into a deputy at the Klamath County Sheriff's Office Tuesday morning. It took 26 stitches to bind up the deputy's wound...."
Who’s right? Whose rights? (Sept. 25, 2003 / River Reporter) "...Bob Pratti, a canine handler, walked around him [an individual detained for walking 'suspiciously'] and allowed the K-9 named Fury to bite the boy’s leg..."
MPs get Iraqi canine unit underway (Sept. 25, 2003 / Army News Service) Reservist Sgt. Emily Frasca, police academy instructor, says: ""When I saw the old torture camp, I looked into the cells and saw the potential...."
Police dog sacked after biting innocent man (Sept. 16, 2003 / Ananova) "...as officers carried out a search, the dog wandered outside to where a group of people were watching events. He then allegedly bit a 20-year-old man....The man had to be taken to hospital in an ambulance for treatment to a leg injury."
Officer Bitten By Police Dog (Sept. 6, 2003 / The Ledger)
Renowned Dog Handler Indicted in Mich. (Sept. 2, 2003 / AP) "...The indictment contends [that celebrated K9 trainer Sandra M. Anderson] faked evidence in several cases in Michigan and Ohio. Not only did she plant bones in search areas, it says, but she also used her own body fluids to stain a saw blade, coins and a piece of cloth...." ; see also: Federal grand jury indicts dog handler (Aug. 21, 2003); Dog-Handler Pleads Guilty to Deception (March 11, 2004 / AP)
3 men accuse Easton police of brutality (August 20, 2003 / Morning Call) "In one of the suits filed last week, Devin Moore of Valley Street in Easton alleges that an officer sicced a police dog on him, ripping apart his right forearm. Attacks by Easton police dogs have been the subject of a series of civil rights suits in the last few years....City administrators have reinforced and rewarded the use of excessive force by promoting officers who regularly engage in misconduct, according to the suits...." The latest accusations follow in the wake of a settlement for $1.9 million in May of this year of an excessive force suit against the city in which "two men were bitten by police dogs and a third was beaten with a police baton after the 1997 Phillipsburg-Easton Thanksgiving Day [football] game." See also: Third circuit court of appeals, case No. 00-4322
Man alleges civil rights violated, sues officers (August 14, 2003 / Tribune Star) "William L. Mazique, 43, was dragged from his car by a police dog after officers say Mazique refused to produce his driver's license...."; Jury finds city liable for $4,000 (April 14, 2004 / Tribune Star) "...After two hours of deliberations, the federal jury awarded Mazique $4,000 in punitive damages, finding that the city 'acted with malice or reckless indifference to the plaintiff's federally protected rights'...."
City pays man for police dog bites (August 12, 2003 / AP) "The city agreed to pay $75,000 to a man who needed more than 70 stitches after being bitten by a police dog. Liam Williams' civil rights lawsuit said he was unarmed, shackled and lying on the floor when a policeman ordered his dog to bite. Officers allegedly waited two hours before taking him for medical treatment...."
ST. PAUL: Police dog pursuing suspect bites girl (Aug. 7, 2003 / Pioneer Press) "A 14-year-old girl was bitten on the leg Tuesday by a police dog that had been sent after a fleeing suspect on St. Paul's East Side...."
Police Dog Biting Incidents Reduced But Report Calls for Officer Retraining (August 7, 2003 / Washington Post)
Ex-police dog handlers jailed (August 5, 2003 / SAPA) - For more on this case, see articles in older Archives from Dec. 17, 2000.
Police dog bites two officers during Terre Haute chase (August 1, 2003 / AP) "...When the dog stopped its attack, Baker had two puncture wounds to his right forearm while Cerny had been bitten on his right hip, right leg and right side of his face."; see also: Police Dog Attacks (Aug. 1, 2003 / Tribune Star)
Parole agent files suit over El Segundo K9 bite (July 17, 2003 / Beach Reporter)
ICD lays charge against policeman following dog attack (July 16, 2003 / SABC News) "...[Titus Mahlatse] is still recovering at the Evander hospital, where he was admitted after the attack on Friday. He alleged that a policeman assaulted him after he was accused of stealing. The policeman apparently then handcuffed him and set his dog on Mahlatse...." ; Mpumalanga dog unit inspector in trouble, again (July 26, 2003 / SABC News); SA stands up against police brutality (August 5, 2003 / SABC News)
Raid on Narragansett smoke-shop
Indian tobacco shop raided (July 15, 2003 / AP) "...[video tape] shows a police dog nipping at the clothing of a man who is handcuffed and face-down on the ground...."; See also: Clarkson: Bull Connor would have been proud (July 25, 2003 / Indian Country) "...When the cameras showed a police dog attacking a tribal councilman who lay helpless on the ground in handcuffs, all that was missing from the scene was Bull Connor and over-pressured fire hoses...."
Team 4 Investigates Police Dog Training (July 10, 2003 / WTAE) "Team 4 investigation finds that Pennsylvania has no rules for police dogs or their trainers.... Any one of the stray dogs at the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society could go on the street tomorrow and be called police dogs. There are no rules for dogs and no rules for trainers...."
Davy Prepared to Settle After Police Dog Attack (June 13, 2003 / Jackson County Courthouse) "...On February 15 th of this year, Rodney C. Davy was arrested in Jackson County by Officers Deputies Tauscher and Johnson. During the arrest, Deputy Johnson unleashed his police dog. The dog attacked Mr. Davy in an unprovoked and illegal manner.... Mr. Davy sustained injuries and expenses, the value which exceeds $50,000. Mr. Davy is prepared to settle his claim for damages for $50,000 and a public apology from the Jackson County Sheriff’s department...."
'I didn't have a weapon' (June 11, 2003 / Red Deer Advocate) "I then put my arms up and was told to get face down on the ground. I was handcuffed, then the dog started biting my leg...." Forty-five staples were needed to close the left leg wounds...
Tacoma police dog bites boy at school program (June 4, 2003 / News Tribune) "...The boy suffered puncture wounds on his leg and received two stitches at a nearby hospital, police spokesman Jim Mattheis said Tuesday...."
Renton man files civil suit over arrest using police dog (June 3, 2003 / Seattle Times)
Morgan Hill Police Dog Faces Permanent Suspension (May 25, 2003 / AP) "...Scooby escaped from a side door and grabbed onto another dog's neck with his teeth until an observer hit him over the head with a board. The deputy was bitten in the hand when she tried to separate the two dogs and required 12 stitches and three months off work to recover from the injury. ...."; Dog's future divides neighbors (May 24, 2003 / San Jose Mercury); Unruly Police Dog Sentenced To Military Service (May 28, 2003 / Bay City News)
Police dog bites back (May 21, 2003 / Bermuda Sun) "... police were brought in for what was described as a mini-riot. The dog was said to have bitten two officers — one on the calf and one on the lip. The police officer that was bitten on the lip reportedly needed plastic surgery...."
PETA video of police dog training
Controversy About City Police Treatment of Police Dogs (May 22, 2003 / WJZ); Activists Allege Baltimore City Police Abuse Dogs (May 20, 2003 / WBAL); PETA Wants Prosecutions Over Alleged K-9 Abuse (May 21, 2003 / WBAL)
Police dog's bite 'not excessive' (May 6, 2003 / Vancouver Sun) "Richard Robinow suffered serious injuries to his right arm, including extensive loss of tissue, nerve damage and scarring... He filed a civil lawsuit against the City of Vancouver and Constable Kirk Star, who was the handler of a dog named Justice.... Robinow was attempting to evade police and although he had committed no crime he testified he had just smoked heroin with a friend...."
Civil Rights `Foot Soldiers' Reunite (May 2, 2003 / AP) "Civil rights demonstrators who faced down fire hoses and police dogs 40 years ago are reuniting in Birmingham — older but still passionate about freedom. Hundreds of people are expected in the city this weekend for the first Foot Soldiers Reunion, a meeting of the masses who heeded the call of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. ...." See also: www.footsoldiers.org; `Too outraged to be afraid' (May 3, 2003 / Birmingham News); 'Foot soldiers' recollect, pass along their dream (May 4, 2003 / Birmingham News)
Council says police dropped the ball (May 1, 2003 / Contra Costa Times) - Richmond, Calif.: "Police dogs were brought against the public," councilman Jim Rogers said. "And a year later, nothing has happened to the people who made that decision ... that is dropping the ball. That is inexcusable." See this firsthand report from May 2002 for more details: Demand end of police brutality in Richmond, CA (May 14, 2002 / SF Indymedia)
Cop kills goose that pecked his dog (April 30, 2003 / Indianapolis Star) - "Indianapolis Police Officer Mitch Waters was letting his K-9 partner take care of business when a goose, trying to protect a nearby nest, swooped over a fence and nipped at the dog's nose. Waters opened fire...."
Alleged 'Racist Dog' Back On Patrol (April 25, 2003 / WTAE, Pittsburgh) - For more items related to the 'Dolpho' story, scroll down to July 12, 2002 in these archives.
County may pay $975,000 in police dog-bite lawsuits (April 1, 2003 / Copley News Service) "The county Board of Supervisors will be asked today to pay $975,000 to seven men who filed civil-rights lawsuits after they were bitten by Sheriff’s Department police dogs...."
Court: Man Can Bark at Police Dog (March 31, 2003 / AP). You would think this case was somewhat of an oddity, but here is a similar case just a few weeks later (charges were dropped by the prosecution): Barking Man Gets Out of Doghouse (April 24, 2003 / AP) ; Man Charged With Barking at Police Dog (April 23, 2003 / AP)
Police Dog Shot After Attacking Police (March 27, 2003 / AP) "A police officer shot and killed a police dog that bit the officer and two others who were investigating a possible burglary Thursday morning, police said... The German shepherd, named Bryan, was in the police K-9 unit for four years...." If a target does not resist, a police K9 is supposedly trained not to exert excessive bite pressure. However, this report (and more further below) show that the police themselves would often prefer to shoot a dog rather than risk verifying this claim.
Man claims he was savaged by police dog (March 21, 2003 / Stockport Express) The father-of-one said: “I was walking up to the policeman to tell him he had got the wrong person when the dog came from behind a van. It grabbed me by the hand and pulled me down to the floor and then started gnawing at me. I felt like a doll in the dog’s mouth. I was screaming and shaking. The dog was dragging me across the floor and then the policeman was trying to handcuff me.... I was very lucky the nerves weren’t severed otherwise I could have lost my arm.”
Review faults Miami police (March 14, 2003 / Miami Herald) "After months of probing the Miami Police Department, the U.S. Department of Justice has found that the agency has serious flaws in the ways it ... defines use of force and works with police dogs.... The department does not specify whether it uses a ''find and bite'' or 'find and bark' policy with police dogs. The recommendation: Explicitly adopt a 'find and bark' policy...."
Police Dog Destroyed After Biting Boy (March 13, 2003 / IRN) "The dog, which was being evaluated for police work, was being exercised on the New Brighton property of a police dog handler on Monday night. It jumped a two metre fence and bit the boy on the hand, arm, and buttocks. The teenager suffered grazes and bruising but no puncture wounds. After an investigation, the dog was put down...." But why was the dog investigated and not the handler's training practices? A deplorable but typical example of a dog being scapegoated in order to cover up the criminal negligence of its handler.
Family Plans Suit In Dog Attack (March 8, 2003 / Harford Courant) "The family of a 6-year-old East Haddam girl severely mauled in November by an off-duty town police dog has notified the town it intends to sue...."
Pair arrested on burglary charges sue Yonkers for $40M (March 7, 2003 / The Journal News) - "... a police dog pulled one of the boys from under a car and another from behind a car the night they were arrested.... [Defence attorney] Grimaldi said the dog was allowed to bite the boys after they were in custody, and that both teens were beaten by police. He said Duprey suffered a broken collarbone...."
Attack Dogs Erode Confidence in Police (Feb. 20?, 2003 / Lynchburg News & Advance) "...The [Lynchburg] K-9 program has had at least four biting incidents in the recent past. The most recent incident occurred last October when two girls were attacked on Craddock Street. Police were attempting to serve a search warrant and the K-9 unit was called. [Officer Rick] Ruggieri lost control of his dog, which bit a 10-year-old girl on the knee and a 13-year-old girl wearing a thick coat... A 23-year-old woman was attacked by a dog at the Greenfield Apartments in June 1999. She had to have 15 staples to close wounds from the bite...."
$2 Million Excessive Force Suit Filed (Feb. 12, 2003 / AP)
2 sue over police tactics at Mango Festival (Feb. 8, 2003 / Sun Sentinel) "...Deputies' handling of the crowd was 'reminiscent of the use of dogs against persons of color who were part of the civil rights movement in the 1960s,' according to the lawsuit filed by Boca Raton community activist Wayne Barton and former college football player Darlvon Bracy....The June 17, 2001, incident caused an uproar in the area's black community, prompting top Broward Sheriff's administrators to issue a quick apology. Charges against both men were dropped and two sergeants were suspended for three days after an internal investigation into why the K-9 units were ordered to the festival...."
Canine unit needs 'drastic' reform (Feb. 6, 2003 / The Gazette) - "An external review of the [Prince George] county police canine unit is critical of the squad's training, procedures and oversight policies, and recommends pulling all canine officers from active duty until fundamental changes are made, The Gazette learned this week....."
Woman Loses Lawsuit Over Police-Dog Bite (February 6, 2003 / Albuquerque Journal) "... Maureen Patterson-Montgomery said she sat in her bathtub and cooperated with officers when an Albuquerque police dog chomped on her left arm, leaving it bloodied, weak and with a loss of feeling...." However "... a federal jury ruled Albuquerque police officer Andrew Lehocky did not use excessive force as alleged by Patterson-Montgomery."
Woman sues NOPD after dog bit father (Jan. 11, 2003 / New Orleans Times Picayune)
Police dogs ripped me to the bone (January 10, 2003 / The Mercury) "...Shabangu and Ntshangase said they put their hands up in surrender but were cuffed and then beaten to the ground before the dog was let loose on them. Crying out in pain the men pleaded for their lives as the dogs tore their flesh to the bone, they said. Speaking to The Mercury from his hospital bed yesterday, Shabangu told how the dog tried to rip out his throat...."; ANC calls for investigation into police dog maulings (January 14, 2003 / SABC News) - South Africa: "...locals have reported to the ANC that last week two suspects gave horrifying accounts of how police dogs had ripped the flesh from their limbs after police officers from Newcastle Dog Unit allegedly unleashed dogs on them.... Mthimkhulu said 13 people were allegedly attacked and bitten by police dogs in Newcastle in the past month...."
Police Shoot Family's Dog During Stop (Jan. 8, 2003 / AP) - As a rule, items concerning non-police dogs are not included in this archive, but this recent item has received considerable media coverage and it is truly a heartwrencher. The following CNN report - Video shows police killing dog (Jan. 9, 2003 / CNN) - was just too much for me. See Family lives 'nightmare we can't wake from' (Jan. 10, 2003 / KnoxNews) for access to the video in question. You would think that Officer Eric Hall, the policeman who shot and killed Patton would be looking at a serious penalty for his outrageous behaviour, but the latest information is that "an internal investigation cleared the officer involved in the shooting" (see: Dog Memorialized - Jan. 14, 2003 / Fox Carolina). Contrast this travesty with a previous dog assault case: Police dogs are still officers (Aug. 1, 2002 / Akron Beacon Journal) in which a citizen who punched a police dog was handed a one-year jail sentence. Talk about double standards. Visit the family's memorial site to their dog Patton at: www.pattonsmoak.com.... Updates: Police Officer Who Shot Dog Sues City (August 28, 2003 / AP)
New Mexico Citizens Live in Fear of their Police A report on many incidents of abuse (K9 and other) within the Albuquerque Police Department. Some excerpts:
Click here for police dog abuse archives from 2002 and earlier

Links to additional reports which people wish to suggest for inclusion in this archive can be sent to Eric Squire at: g8alert@yahoo.com

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