K-9 death

[Rhino]

Does any one have any more info on this story?

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php...show_article=1



MIAMI (AP) - A Miami police officer surrendered Monday to face animal cruelty and other charges in the death of his K-9 partner, a female bloodhound named Dynasty. Officer Rondal Laroy Brown, 48, will be released on bail, his attorney said.
An investigation showed that Dynasty, who was donated to the Miami Police Department in 2004 and specialized in finding missing people, was in good health in January 2007 and weighed 66 pounds. In November when she died, the 4-year-old dog weighed only 33 pounds, had sunken eyes and missing hair, and had a wound on one paw.
Brown reported the dog had died on Nov. 30 and told a supervisor she had gotten loose and may have eaten some rat poison at a nearby construction site. But a necropsy revealed Dynasty suffered from severe malnutrition and dehydration.
Brown has worked at the Miami Police Department since 1987 mostly with dogs. His attorney, Bill Matthewman, said Brown is innocent and would never hurt a dog.
"The allegations are utter and complete nonsense," Matthewman said.
The case is the second involving K-9 cruelty allegations in the Miami area recently.
A Miami-Dade County police sergeant, Allen Cockfield, is awaiting trial on charges of animal cruelty and killing a police dog, both felonies. Cockfield has pleaded innocent to kicking to death his assigned German shepherd, Duke.

[tibvixie101]

WTF is going on with these K-9 Units lately?! All i keep reading and seeing on the news is more working dogs being killed in action by disgusting bad guys, or a story like this! These dogs want nothing more than to do their job and fufill their handlers wishes, why is it that their handlers cant keep them safe from harm? (besides, of course the natural threat of their job)

I'd like to believe this guys story, given his background at the miami pd including his years of work with k-9's, but from the faint details of the story it sounds to me like hes hiding something.

[Rhino]

That is why I think there is more to the Story..

This is not a new handler and I am trying to give him the benefit of the doubt here but it does not read well what is being portrayed in the media...

Can the supervision of the Miami PD be that bad that they didn't see this coming?

[Lakeguy929]

I think it will come down if after suspecting the animal was ill or poisened did the handler in question seek medical help? Also the GSD kicking death, very troubling.

[tibvixie101]

Just a thought too, after re-reading the story i see it says the bloodhound was healthy at 66lbs. Now my female gsd who is on the leaner/smaller side weighs in at 73lbs. I thought that bloodhounds were a larger breed? Wouldnt 66lbs be underweight?

[jarn]

i just read the breed standard, it says the mean weight of adult dogs is 90lbs, of adult bitches 80lbs (though they can get bigger).

maybe it was a cross? or out-of-standard? the AKC standard doesn't provide a range, which is a little annoying. as a female, maybe she was just at the low end of standard?

[BlackPuppy]

This story sounds just like another story about a K-9 Bloodhound that was neglected in Missouri. At least the MO dog was retrieved and saved.

<span style="color: #3333FF">"The Washington County Sheriff’s Department adopted 1-year-old Mosley from the Illinois-based Midwest Bloodhound Rescue Inc. in January of 2007. They planned to use the bloodhound for search and rescues and public relations events.

A year later, Capt. Charles LaLumondiere, who had signed the adoption agreement, contacted the group to let them know the dog was unhealthy and the department wanted its money back or a new dog.

On Feb. 13, a volunteer went to pick up the dog. According to their Web site, the dog was found in a 4 by 4 dirt-floor pen outside a trailer. The dog had no food, water or bedding.

“His condition was such that we rushed him to an emergency vet that night,” the Web site states.

The dog reportedly suffered from frostbite, malnutrition and dehydration, severe hair loss (mange), ear and eye infections, seborrhea of the skin, cellulitis, and anemia."</span>

http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/13335/MO/US/RSS/#UPDATES

[ILGHAUS]

Quote: told a supervisor she had gotten loose and may have eaten some rat poison at a nearby construction site. But a necropsy revealed Dynasty suffered from severe malnutrition and dehydration.

Some rat poisons will lead to malnutition and dehydration of pets -- see the cautions on the containers. Maybe the dog was under a vet's care and still died which is possible. I would rather wait and hear some more info other than the parts that is reported in the paper before passing judgement.

[DFrost]

Having been a law enforcement canine officer and trainer for more years than I care to remember I'd just like to point out a couple of things. First, every citizen is innocent until proven guilty. Many people are quick to judge a cop guilty as soon as they are charged. The vast majority of law enforcement canine officers are very concerned about their partner. To that end, they do everything possible to ensure they are healthy, well trained and prepared for whatever job they are assigned. Just reading some of the comments already made there are those that have judged this officer as guilty. Do you really think that's fair. Also, one poster stated:&lt;&lt;&lt; "WTF is going on with these K-9 Units lately?! All i keep reading and seeing on the news is more working dogs being killed in action by disgusting bad guys, or a story like this!"&gt;&gt;&gt;

Dogs get killed in this line of work. As tragic as that is, there will always be dogs killed in this line of work. Frankly, I'd much rather attend the funeral of a working dog that died doing what he was trained to do, than that of a brother/sister officer. Secondly, just how many K9 Units have you heard of lately in "stories like this". I don't think it's all someone keeps reading. they have been isolated incidents. Granted, one is too many, but spereate incidents of this nature are not filling the news day in and day out.

As to working dogs dying in the line of duty. They are trained to perform a job. They aren't furbabies, they are working dogs. Being that, they are often put in harms way. It's why they were trained, why they were deployed and every canine handler knows that it could happen to their partner.

If the officer is guilty, I hope they prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. I, for one however, am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt until he has the same opportunity as every other American citizen. A complete investigation, and if it comes down to it, a fair trial.

DFrost

[tibvixie101]

I wasnt judgeing him at all. I said i would like to believe his story, but with the lack of detail, i couldnt make a decision either way. As for seeing so many stories like this, in the past month or two alone i have read on this board alone at least 5 seperate cases of K9's being KIA, which is understandable, given their job, like i stated, but just the effect of hearing story after story in such a short time kind of set me off. These dogs work so hard at what they do its just a shame to see them being hurt.