Friends of “Jack”, a Loyal and Aging Salisbury Police Dog
♦ Behind the Salisbury Police Department (Salisbury, N.C.), in a cramped chain-link and cement dog run, a Belgian Malinois named “Jack” has been imprisoned, day and night, for almost two weeks.
Jack sleeps, exposed to the elements, on the cold cement often with his urine and feces his only company. He is not properly exercised, and his body shows signs of deteriorating muscle mass. At night you can hear the dog’s whimpering. He also shows signs of separation anxiety and social isolation, which can result in aggression in breeds such as Jack’s.
Why?
Jack has aged out of K-9 duty and should be retired. The timing would have been good for him to retire with his handler, Officer Fox, who would dearly love to be with Jack. Dogs are customarily retired to their handler’s care and protection. Yet Chief Rory Collins’ said no and has instead subjected Jack to inhumane conditions. Is this action out of spite because officer Fox took a job with the Sheriff’s Office? Who can blame deputy Fox for trying to better his lot?
Our photographer was able to take photos from behind the police department, where Jack displays signs of separation anxiety, physical neglect, and discomfort. Jack is located in one of the two 6’ x 8’ pens on the cement yard behind the police headquarters building. Jack has many friends in the Police Department, but they fear for their jobs to speak out.
Jack, a K-9 who is aged to retirement, has been improperly and cruelly caged for almost two weeks.
Police Chief Collins’ peculiar choice came on the heels of Fox’s resignation and employment with the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office. Collins would be well aware that the small pen is intended to house the high-energy dog breeds employed by Salisbury PD for only a few hours while a handler is busy in court or otherwise. No K-9 should ever be caged in such conditions for longer than a few hours.
Is Collins’ animal cruelty due to a grudge held over Fox’s departure to work in the Sheriff’s Office? Officers are disturbed by the Chief’s petty behavior at the aging dogs expense. It does nothing for the department’s crumbling morale.
When Fox recently resigned and took a job with the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office, he requested to adopt the dutiful Jack, with whom he worked closely. Jack had aged out of K-9 duty and would have to be retired, and the bond between Jack and his handler Officer Fox was very close. You can imagine the emptiness these two experience at each other’s loss.
Why would Collins deny Jack a caring home at the time he is due to retire from K-9 duty and instead subject him to cruelty and inhumane treatment?
High energy dogs such as this Belgian Malinois bond closely with their handlers and require frequent exercise, closeness, and attention. The relationship between dogs such as Jack and their handlers are central to their well-being. At retirement, continuing the Malinois’ relationship with his handler is considered to be in the dog’s best interest. Police Chief Collins’ decision to pen such a dog in a cramped environment that is isolated and exposed to the elements with no consideration of his age or even common humane treatment is one he has made with ample knowledge of the unique requirements of such a breed.
Salisbury municipal officials and institutions created to prevent this type of animal treatment should be contacted at once.
PETA: http://www.peta.org/about-peta/contact-peta/report-cruelty/
Humane Society: 704-636-5700
John Sofley, Salisbury, NC Interim City Manager: 704-638-5309
Mayor Paul Woodson: 704-638-5231 at City Hall; 704-633-5411 at Vogue Cleaner’s
About police dogs and their retirement: http://www.nationalpolicedogfoundation.org/faq/faq.html#What_happens_if_the_handler_gets_out_of_the_program_before_the_dog_is_ready_to_retire__
Learn more about the special needs and care of Belgian Malinois K-9s: http://bayareadogtrainer.wordpress.com/2011/05/16/note-to-the-american-public-belgian-malinois-look-dont-touch/
Please call the above numbers night and day until this egregious injustice is undone and Jack is reunited with his handler. Do not accept the Chief euthanizing the dog or giving him to a rookie cop with no K-9 experience. Such a choice would endanger a rookie cop with no K-9 experience.
Tell others about Jack’s plight. Let the whole world know this inhumane treatment of a loyal service dog must end immediately.
