Two weekends ago our cities police dog(6 yr old Malinois-with an empicable record) bit an 11 yr old girl (my daughter was friends with this girlfor a VERY short while). According to the paper, the handler was doing lawn work, with earplugs in, and the dog who was unleashed had wandered off the property. The little girl was riding bike by and the dog bit her. They still have not come up with a reason as to why the dog bit her. The family has not sued the city yet, and the handler did get a fine for having allowing the dog off the property without a leash on.
I know this little girl and I do feel bad that she got bit, but this girl is TROUBLE!! She stole my daughters set of keys to her Grandmothers house and then continued to go into her place till my Mother-in-law switched the locks. She stole $26.00 from my daughter, along with constantly learked around our house, sneaking into our house, trying to get into our house and went into it one time when we weren't home(accidently left back door open). She constantly cuts through peoples yards, goes through mail boxes, peeks in other peoples windows, etc etc. Should I contact the police department and let them know these things about her? I wouldn't be a bit suprised if she wasn't trying to peek in there windows or go into there garage and the dog felt that her handler was threatened. I don't know what to do, but I don't want to see this dog get retired, or anything else because of this little girl. Will my comments about this little girl do any good? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> What do you all suggest?

In my opinion it wouldn't hurt to try but it may or may not do any good...it's really going to depend on what steps they have to take to "save face"...

My department had a semi-retired Mal in his kennel at the Sheriff's Office...he is not a "bad" dog but thru some poor handling had become quite a handful (his handler no longer works for the SO - and none of the handlers that have spent time with him since, have had a problem)...well one day a "higher official's" (no names :rolleyes: ) 12 year old stuck his hand thru the fence to "pet" him...well the dog tried to snap and the child ended up with a scratch on his hand...the only thing that saved the dog then was the fact that they couldn't prove the scratch came from him or if the boy scratched it on the fence trying to pull his hand out...now they are considering putting the dog down... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Police Depts have to worry more about lawsuits and the public rather than the dogs...sad in some cases but true...

Telling them what you know might not nec save the dog's career but to me it would be worth a try (better than wondering - "what if")...if you do talk to them remember not to make it "personal" - just tell them the facts and let them sort it out...if it seems like "revenge" to them they won't be as open to your comments...

(I am not implying it is revenge, but they have to consider that when taking statements...it happens a lot)

to hell with the dog, you need to speak up to save the little girl. An 11 year old should NOT act that way, the poor girl probably has something really wrong with the family life. So you need to speak up to help the girl, if it benefits the dog too, then just consider it an additional blessing.

Thomas, pretty bold assumption that I haven't tried to help this little girl already isn't it. I have, I have spoke with the mother and the step father, I have never met her biological father-he lives in a different state and has his parents pick her up and drop her off. ALL of them say it is kids being kids. She KNOWS what she is doing is wrong...she doesn't care says its fun(my guess going for negative attention because there is no positive attention) my daughter has spoke to her and also about other things which I didn't even mention in the first post that is more messed up then this. The whole family lives in ther own little world where nothing matters but when trouble brews they act like the Cleavers, everything is all good. School knows they turn the blind eye. What more do you propose I do? There are such thing as bad kids because they were raised by bad parents. Would you want this unknown fait with your dog(I am assuming you have one) just because a girl gets her thrills from Peeking, stealing and everything else in the book? Wouldn't you want someone to tell you these things? If for nothing else to put your mind at ease?

The only assumption I am making is that someone is doing something to that little girl that results in her acting that way. You now have it in your perview to raise the issue with the authorities and as a result maybe help the girl.
It sounds as if you have already written her off.
But if rewording things will help you take action then let me rewrite my initial reply with the following.>>>>


By all means speak up and report it to the authorities, doing so won't hurt the dog or the girl. Infact, it sounds as if the girl may have SERIOUS abuse issues for her to act out in such a manner. The worst that can happen is that nothing happens. If she is being abused maybe your actions to save the dog will also save her. Again, one thing is for sure, speaking up will not hurt the dog or the girl.

Thomas, in my mind you're blowing things out of the water here suggesting that this girl is being abused by her family. We went from a police canine wandering off from it's yard to bite an 11 year old girl to "CHILD ABUSE!" I have problems with a police canine, or canine's in general biting anyone without very good reason. You have no idea why this dog did what it did and neither do I so lets back off slamming people on this board for posting a question and asking for help. I think you're post was out of line, in my opinion.

Glenn

Originally posted by Dee Dee Strand:
Two weekends ago our cities police dog(6 yr old Malinois-with an empicable record) bit an 11 yr old girl (my daughter was friends with this girlfor a VERY short while). According to the paper, the handler was doing lawn work, with earplugs in, and the dog who was unleashed had wandered off the property. What an idiot.

Originally posted by Dee Dee Strand:
I know this little girl and I do feel bad that she got bit, but this girl is TROUBLE!! Irrelevant. Unless there is a credible witness who saw the girl intentionally provoke the dog, the handler is at fault for failing to adequately supervise his animal.

Report it to the authorities if it will make you feel better, but the girl's character really isn't the issue.

 Quote:

unleashed had wandered off the property. The little girl was riding bike by and the dog bit her

ok...apparetly I mis-understood, I thought the girl was on his property...I agree with Lisa on this one - unless you can prove she was provoking the dog (at the exact time of the bite) then her past behaviors are irrelevent...

and like I said in my earlier post, even if she was provoking the dog - the PD is still going to do what they need to do to avoid negative press and "save face" - that's the world of politics...

In my opinion, you should not say anything-

Some families who raise their children very well, still sometimes end up with a mischevious child who wants to do things their own way whether they get into trouble or not-
Hopefully this child will grow up as far that is concerned-
As far as the dog... I am sure it was just territorial over its home, which some dogs do charge off at citizens walking by because they are over dominant of their own space, that is when the owner is supposed to step in and make sure that is under control at all times...
things like this happen all the time and it is because of one thing- neglegence to a situation.
If a Police K-9 is harbored upon a property, extra procautions should be taken to see to it that, that dog is never unrestrained, otherwise accidents happen- I am sure that's all it was, an accident, but the handler still had to pay for it, sounds like all was taken care of just fine, he paid his fine and I am sure he learned a lesson to take extra care to make sure his buddy wasn't unrestrained anymore! :-) Accidents happen-
AND if this mischevious child was upon the handler's property, unpermitted, as some thought she may have been, well, lets just say she probably learned a lesson there didnt she!
Stay Safe
Kelli-