What do you guys, especially any officers, think about how this Dept. handled this. Not that it happened or why it happened but just the way they handled it.
Dog bite story
I couldnt find anything to know if it was resolved later, but the initial comments from the chief and the letter to the lady were not what I would have expected.

Wow, I'm intersted in hearing the LEO's opinion on this. I think it's kind of embarassing though. At least pay the girls medical bill.

Wow....that is unfortunate. I am interested to hear the City Councils reasons for not paying up....although....I am in agreement that when a LE K-9 is out with their handler it is much more appropriate to walk out of reach of the dog, especially if the Officer is engaged in conversation with someone else.

The other thing that we don't know is if she talked to, made eye contact with or tried to touch the dog......that would be interesting to find out as well.

Half is better than none.

There are morons all over society. Common Sense tells me to steer clear of walking to close to an officer who is sitting down with his dog next to him, but then again, as the officer ultimately it is your responsiblity to war game every situation you bring your dog into. Bringing that dog onto that sidewalk like that sitting down at a place that seems to be a lunch spot, maybe wasn't the best thing to do. Most K9 officers have door poppers, My dog would be in the car and if I need him I'll hit the button. Our dogs are trained to Immediately come out and look for us, unless we're being attacked or we direct him to an attack. IMO there was no need to take the dog out there, to sit down at a lunch table. If you want your dog to get out and stretch his legs, take him somewhere else a baseball field for a few minutes and throw him a ball for a little bit. If my dog is on leash and he bites a non-suspect it's automatically the handlers fault for not maintaining positive control over your k9 at all times. I think they should definately pay her medical bills if she was simply walking by even if her lack of smarts got her bit by walking to close, unless there is more to this story than whats reported, the fact that they went into much futher depth to discuss police k9 bites, leads me to believe this news agency and reporter could have possibly been just a bit biased.

~CHRIS DUHON

Totally agree with "more to the story", as I've learned that through other newsreports posted here. They may only pay half due to litigation involving bites on criminals...(ie: do they pay *any* hospital bills then?)

I'm thinking this 2 year old dog needs work in the civilian arena, bet he'll be wearing a muzzle now. ?? I'm glad the officer stated they can learn from their mistakes, obviously, people and dogs make them.

Do training records of K9's include documentation of "socialization" around civilians? I know of at least one K9 who admits needing work with his partner around other dogs...

 Quote: chris duhon

There are morons all over society. Common Sense tells me to steer clear of walking to close to an officer who is sitting down with his dog next to him, but then again, as the officer ultimately it is your responsiblity to war game every situation you bring your dog into. Bringing that dog onto that sidewalk like that sitting down at a place that seems to be a lunch spot, maybe wasn't the best thing to do. Most K9 officers have door poppers, My dog would be in the car and if I need him I'll hit the button. Our dogs are trained to Immediately come out and look for us, unless we're being attacked or we direct him to an attack. IMO there was no need to take the dog out there, to sit down at a lunch table. If you want your dog to get out and stretch his legs, take him somewhere else a baseball field for a few minutes and throw him a ball for a little bit. If my dog is on leash and he bites a non-suspect it's automatically the handlers fault for not maintaining positive control over your k9 at all times. I think they should definately pay her medical bills if she was simply walking by even if her lack of smarts got her bit by walking to close, unless there is more to this story than whats reported, the fact that they went into much futher depth to discuss police k9 bites, leads me to believe this news agency and reporter could have possibly been just a bit biased.

~CHRIS DUHON

I think Chris said it best here

 Quote: michael mcatee

Do training records of K9's include documentation of "socialization" around civilians? I know of at least one K9 who admits needing work with his partner around other dogs...

Very good questions and maybe something that needs to be looked into. I cant comment considering this involves civilian LEO, and im also sure it differs between different departments.

I feel that the girl's medical bills should be paid in full and not half. Nothing was said about the girl trying to pet the dog, maybe she put her hand out to the dog without thinking. I agree that the officer should have left the dog in the car or muzzled the dog. Whatever happened, it was certainly unfortunate. If the dog belonged to a citizen, I'm sure a law suit would be in progress right about now.

All the people I know in LE with K-9's do keep records of the dogs socialization work.

Also, when doing the obedience portion of their training/testing we use people that the dog does not know for heel work rather than people the dog is around a lot.


I agree that the girls bill should be paid in full, but half is a start.

I do not think that the real story will ever come out, which is unfortunate. And I also agree with the story being a bit biased.

Everyone has made great points here, and I still stick to my guns about people needing to have basic common sense when being around any dog, not just LE dogs.

You know Carol, it's just the attitude of the Dept. that struck me. This area is a downtown section that is modeled on old fashioned small towns where they promote foot traffic. Just the fact that they would blow her off instead of pay her off just seems like a good way to cause yourself more trouble then the 3 grand.

I totally agree, that is why I am interested to hear the City Councils reasoning behind the rejection.

I live in a small town where the City Council and the County Commissioners do stupid stuff all the time.

The attitude is just plain dumb....if I were in LE's situation in that particular case, I would stick up for her and try to get her bill paid, regardless of how I feel about common sense coming into play.

Regardless of the negligence on either side, they need to step up and admit that it was an unfortunate accident and that it will not happen again.