Author with his second K9 partner.
A Coconut Creek Police Department K9 dog has been retired from the force after biting two innocent persons, one an officer. Four-year-old K9 Renzo had only been on the job a year and a half at the time of his dismissal. The circumstances of the bites, as widely reported in the media, shine a light on the subjects of a handler’s judgment and his control of his police dog in public.
I am commenting only on the scenarios as documented, not the persons involved, who will not be named here. In the first instance, November 26, 2014, the K9 team was tracking a home invasion suspect around 12 a.m. The handler lost his footing and control of Renzo, who then bit an officer. The officer received multiple puncture wounds. The handler said the dog might have viewed the officer as a threat.
If true, this situation is both handler error and unfortunate circumstance. The error of the handler in falling may have been unavoidable. Running around in the dark with a motivated four-legged partner pulling you all over creation can result in the K9 officer going down and losing the dog. If a trailing officer was close, the dog may have seen his or her movement and reacted Continue reading
