Comments on: North Carolina Highway Patrol K9 Cop Caught on Video Abusing Belgian Malinois Ricoh, Rest of NC Department Accused of Abuse Also

By: hutter haven

hutter haven — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:47:46 +0000

I hope that everyone here also took the time to call the contact #’s with your opinion, since it is very unlikely they will see your messages here.

To Pedro..DITTO my friend !

My old dog that could not even walk was in the passenger seat of my car while the police had me outside the car, he calmly walked up to my drivers door & maced her….I assume to aggrevate me….which did end up in me being arrested.

I also happen to have a few friends in the MPLS police department, when I had a dog that was aggressive & considered donating to St. Paul Police… my friend was honest in saying that I am not the kind of person that would want to see my dog abused in the way they do their training.

So I know it is not just a NC issue, & the majority of the public is in fantasy land in regards to their views of any police officer.

By: Leslie

Leslie — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 02:19:48 +0000

I am trying to find a good K9 or search and rescue person to donate my german shepard. After reading this I am very afraid my dog might end up being abused. He’s a beautiful and very smart, willing learner. It’s just that my personal situation has changed such that I do not have the time to work with him the way he deserves. He needs and loves to work every day. He has excellent blood lines and is 2 years old. He has had on and off lead training. He’s great with kids and adults. He needs more socialization with other dogs. He gets along well with mine, but is nervous about other large dogs.

If anyone has any ideas about where I might find a GOOD and LOVING home for him, send me an email at lesliebpearson@yahoo.com. I’m in North Carolina.

By: Kathryn

Kathryn — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 03:20:31 +0000

I hope he rots in hell.

By: Pedro

Pedro — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 04:43:51 +0000

This story does not surprise me in the least. I have worked with law enforcement in the past and it is my experience that this profession can draw the most vicious, petty, hypocritical, prejudiced, ignorant, uneducated and dangerous members of society. I’m not saying all law enforcement are bad, but the ones that do deviate are more horrific than you can imagine and they are much, much more prevalent than most would believe.

For anyone naive enough to believe that the law enforcement community truly cares about the public in general, keep living in your fantasy and hope you are never on the receiving end of one of these violent outbursts.

By: shasta

shasta — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 17:21:42 +0000

Before I get reamed her for this, I in NO WAY CONDONE or AGREE with what the officers did. If the dog had that much of an issue, he should have been washed out of the program a long time ago. I’m guessing it has more to do with the handlers emotion then the dogs training though. So I agree with those that are against the kind of abuse that happened here
HOWEVER, I do wish to be reasonable. There ARE times when a PROPER correction must be applied with these dogs. That does not mean helicoptering or tazering or anything crazy like that. But anybody who thinks that these type of high drive dogs can be loved into working properly has never handled a high drive working dog before. I can appreciate that pet handlers can do so with many of their pets. But these kinds of dogs are of a different make.

I have handled both high drive working line shepherds in the midst of protection work, as well as malinois (which is what Ricoh is apparently). When a dog has been bred for the work, and trained from a young pup to enjoy it, many of them almost become obsessive about it. They LOVE it. And I mean LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Tunnel vision in on it. And they can tunnel vision in on toys more then just your average pet dog not raised for it. It’s imperative that a handler be able to get the dog to let go when told, and when theyr’e as locked in as some of these dogs can get, it is not possible to lets say, offer a cookie to get them to let go. Nor does it matter at that moment how much the handler wants to love the dog off that sleeve or bite suit. There are times when a correction is necessary to get them to understand that they must let go when told. That is a HUGE safety factor. Again, I do not agree with the type of corrections done in this story, it is obvious this was done out of the handlers anger and not for the dogs training in mind. But let’s be fair. Unless you’ve handled a dog with the levels of drive that a working malinois or shepherd has in the midst of playing with their toy on a training day or doing bite work, you can’t say that no corrections are ever necessary to train a dog like this. I’d love to see any of you guys get my dog to “out” without the use of a correction when he REALLY wants to NOT let go. There ARE better ways to train it, but sometimes there are PROPER corrections necessary to maintain safety with these dogs that love to work.

By: Elizabeth VanHook

Elizabeth VanHook — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 22:18:13 +0000

How can we expect an abusive cop like him to protect us when he obviously has no heart?

By: Concerned K9 Handler in North Carolina

Concerned K9 Handler in North Carolina — Thu, 29 May 2008 02:30:46 +0000

I’m torn between lowering my standards to those that are bashing K9 handlers in North Carolina because of a bad seed, and remaining professional enough to tell my opinion on this incident. Not all K9 handlers are barbaric heathens, some of us do actually love and respect our K9 partners, our friends. I am a K9 handler for a small department in North Carolina and I work closely with numerous larger departments that work in excess of twelve dogs. I was outraged by what I saw one of my so called brothers in law enforcement doing to his partner. I have worked with many dogs displaying the same problems that this troopers, im sorry, no real trooper would ever act like that …right, partner displayed. Never would I associate myself with the actions I saw in this video. The Highway Patrol should have intervened way before this action ever took place. If the dog displayed problems to bring about this level of corrections, he should have been washed out a long time ago. This incident is a prime example of just how one bad apple can spoil the entire bunch. Cops in general have a bad enough reputation as it is, so who out there really respects us as much as our four leg friends who always do what we ask and never talk back. I dont know too many people out there that would lay down their life for me, but I can trust in my little furry buddy when the going gets tough. Theres no way that I can begin to articulate my compassion for our K9 friends, but I can assure anyone that reads this that the actions of this one man do not display the majority of the K9 handlers out there. So I encourage you to go up to a police K9 handler when you see them on patrol helping to protect you and your family from the evils of our society, and notice the gleam in their eye as you ask them about their pride and joy in the back of their cruiser. Paws and jaws enforcing laws! 2*

By: Mom to Zack and Luke

Mom to Zack and Luke — Sun, 04 May 2008 20:19:59 +0000

As a mom to two rescued dogs, both of whom could be considered aggressive breeds (Luke is a German Sherphard mix and Zack is a Rottweiller/Chow mix), I have to say that my husband and I have never had to resort to anything remotely physically abusive. We treat our dogs (and cats) with love and affection, and of course, firmness with our discipline. When a human truely bonds with a dog (or other animal), they want to please you. Just a change in your voice will get their attention. There is never ANY need for physical violence. I can simply look at Zack, who is still a puppy and chews things that aren’t chew toys (are you listening Charles Jones?) and tell him in a commanding voice that he was a “bad dog,” while showing him the item he destroyed, and he hangs his head and looks ashamed. And doesn’t do it again, for the most part. Luke, who is an adult dog, has simply learned the rules of the house through our love and affection, and never makes any mistakes. We raised him with love, companionship, and respect, and he returns all of those with his own sweetness. I live in the South (in Raleigh, NC, in fact), and am totally heartbroken and mortified at what happened with Ricoh, and possibly other dogs who were serving as police dogs. I totally support our Governor’s decision to fire Charles Jones and suspend further police dog service until this issue can be resolved. Animals are Souls, too!

By: Mom to Zack and Luke

Mom to Zack and Luke — Sun, 04 May 2008 19:56:30 +0000

As a “mom” to two rescued dogs, both of whom are mixed breeds which might be considered aggressive (Luke is a German Shephard mix, and Zack is likely a Rottweiller/Chow mix), I have to say that I have never ever had to treat them with aggression of any kind to get them to obey me. My husband and I treat them with love and affection, and they simply

By: Jann

Jann — Sun, 04 May 2008 06:15:31 +0000

This just seems to be another “i’m above God” mentality. Who does this Charles Jones and others like him think they are. Who and what gives them the right to treat a dog or any other animal like this. My dad trained dogs for many years and he did not resort to such tactics as I have been reading that is totally permissable with these dogs handlers.I just read in the News and Observor that other things they do to the dogs include “being shocked with a stun gun,kicked, suspended form their leashes until they were nearly unconscious and hit with plastic bottles filled with stones.” I don’t live under a rock and I know animal abuse goes on every day but with our State Trooper handlers??? I wonder if this kind of treatment to their dogs makes them feel like a “real ” man at the end of the day. I have just lost all respect for the Highway Patrol in North Carolina and any other state that trains their dogs in this manner. Most of the State Troopers ride the roads like they are untouchable and I guess up until now they were.