Members of the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office and other local law enforcement continue to mourn the death of canine officer Duke, who was stabbed inside a train while trying to apprehend a burglary suspect this weekend. Ron Cloward, a retired police lieutenant and canine expert, was one of Duke’s first trainers. He said that he immediately went to the veterinary hospital to offer his support to the handler. “There is a lot of pain that goes with it. There’s a good handler-dog relationship,” Cloward said. One of the two burglary suspects had run into the engine room of a train at a Tracy depot, according to the sheriff’s office. It was then that the deputies sent Duke inside where he was stabbed multiple times. Questions surrounded the dog and whether he was protected by a vest. The sheriff’s office told KCRA 3 that in this case, the dog was not wearing a vest because it would be difficult for him to maneuver inside, adding that it’s possible the vest could have easily snagged on anything. Cloward explains that K-9 vests may not be the best in every situation. “Sometimes those vests work against us,” Cloward said. “We had a dog in Texas that the vest was actually used against the dog, and they were able to drown the dog by pulling the vest over the dog’s head.” Known as Assembly Bill 742 would ban the use of an unleashed K-9 by law enforcement for the purpose of capture. But Cloward said it’s situations like this that could impact the force. “If the dog hadn’t been used, a deputy would more than likely have been stabbed,” Cloward said. “Either someone would have been stabbed, or the suspect would have been shot and now we’re back to excessive force or an officer-involved shooting.” There is always room for improvement when it comes to handler and police dog training. He has suggested training legislation as an alternative. “Bring in something on the training side,” Cloward said. “Because in this state, there is absolutely no K-9 regulation regarding law enforcement training. They can go to a 3 week school, a 4 week school, there is no control over who is doing the training. This is where changes need to be made. “Local members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have expressed support for using police dogs as work partners as long as the dogs are rescued rather than raised, trained and cared for humanely, kept in homes rather than shelters In a statement to the KCRA, Sofia Chauvet, PETA’s media relations liaison, said: “PETA has seen police dogs rescued from shelters and loved and cared for, in their training to retirement , but, as with anything, police dogs can be “A procession for K-9 Duke hasn’t been announced, but Cloward says plans will be discussed among sheriffs this week.
Members of the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office and other local law enforcement continue to mourn the death of canine officer Duke, who was stabbed inside a train while trying to apprehend a burglary suspect this weekend.
Ron Cloward, a retired police lieutenant and dog expert, was one of Duke’s first trainers. He said that he immediately went to the veterinary hospital to offer his support to the handler.
“There is a lot of pain that goes with it. There’s a nice relationship between handler and dog,” said Cloward.
One of the two burglary suspects had run inside the engine room of a train at a Tracy depot, according to the sheriff’s office. It was then that the deputies sent Duke inside where he was stabbed multiple times.
Questions surrounded the dog and whether he was protected by a vest.
The sheriff’s office told KCRA 3 that in this case, the dog was not wearing a vest because it would have been difficult for him to maneuver inside, adding that it’s possible the vest could have easily snagged on anything.
Cloward explains that K-9 vests may not be the best in every situation.
“Sometimes those vests work against us,” Cloward said. “We had a dog in Texas that the vest was actually used against the dog, and they were able to drown the dog by pulling the vest over the dog’s head.”
California’s bill would make it illegal to use K-9s for arrest
A new bill known as Assembly Bill 742 would ban the use of an unleashed K-9 by law enforcement agencies for arrest purposes.
But Cloward said it’s situations like this that could impact policing.
“If the dog hadn’t been used, an officer would most likely have been stabbed,” Cloward said. “Either someone would have been stabbed, or the suspect would have been shot and now we’re back to excessive force or an officer-involved shooting.”
Cloward said that while he believes law enforcement made the right call in this case, there is always room for improvement when it comes to handler and police dog training. He has suggested training legislation as an alternative.
“Bring in something on the training side,” Cloward said. “Because in this state, there is absolutely no K-9 regulation regarding law enforcement training. They can go to a 3 week school, a 4 week school, there is no control over who is doing the training. That’s where the changes have to be made.”
Local members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have expressed support for using police dogs as work partners as long as the dogs are rescued rather than raised, trained and treated humanely, kept in homes instead of shelters , and eventually retired.
In a statement to the KCRA, Sofia Chauvet, PETA’s media relations liaison, said:
“PETA has seen police dogs rescued from shelters and loved and cared for, in their training through retirement, but, as with anything, police dogs can be mistreated and abused. It depends on the officer and the department.”
A procession for K-9 Duke has not been announced, but Cloward says the plans will be discussed among sheriffs this week.
