Police Dog's Attack On Postman Baffles Department

[Nomad559]

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/13954177/detail.html
Dogs may be natural adversaries of postal carriers, but Joe Luckey couldn't have been prepared for an attack by a police animal.

Luckey was working his route when Erik, the Lebanon Police Department's 7-year-old German shepherd, ran for him Tuesday, startling the mailman and the dog's handler.

The dog bit his face and neck and barely missed his jugular vein.

"I was thinking, 'Boy, this is really going to hurt. I don't know how bad, but this is really going to hurt,'" Luckey told 6News' Ray Cortopassi on Wednesday.

The dog was with his longtime, off-duty handler, Officer Dave VanBaale, when it ran to Luckey. Police said the attack was unprovoked, and that the dog disregarded VanBaale's commands to stop.

[Bread and Circus]

1. Another reason I hate dogs.... yeah I said it.....

dogs are one of the most over-rated creatures on the planet.

[Cha]

3. I'm weary of them..

I've almost been bitten but managed to be lucky in all instances. I don't approach any for a pet because of my experiences.

I know there are a lot of good dogs out there for other people.

[Zueda]

4. And I hate people

Because of Bush.


/snark

[The Stranger]

11. Another reason I hate people . . . yeah I said it . . .

People are THE most over-rated creatures on the planet.

[Bread and Circus]

31. They probably are.... LOL... but it's kind of counterproductive to hate yourself.

[The Stranger]

40. What makes you so sure that I am one of them, that is, a person?

[SammyWinstonJack]

76. So true. nt.

[Bread and Circus]

32. I've been bitten, my son's been bitten.... I see patients often that

are victim of dogbites...

Luckily no one seriously injured that I know yet.

[Roon]

48. My parents have a dog that has attacked and bitten at least five people

One was a two-year-old boy who had to go to the ER. The dog was quarantined for 10 days. Another guy got bit and was wounded so badly that he had to go in for stitches. Yet, my parents insist on keeping this dog. One of these times that dog is going to bite the wrong person and my parents are going to find themselves facing a lawsuit.

[yardwork]

52. Where do your parents live? I'm surprised that they're allowed to keep the dog.

[Roon]

58. Franktown Colorado

A bite has only been reported once, and that is when the toddler went to the ER. All the other bites haven't been reported.

[Clark2008]

53. Well, likely with that attitude, they hate you, too.

My dogs have never bitten anything except for a flea.

[Bread and Circus]

83. I'm not mean to dogs, I don't think got the memo yet either :)

I have 2 goldens too. I think I lost my affection for dogs when one bit my son. I didn't put the dog down, because my young son woke the dog up so it wasn't the dogs fault. However, seeing the nasty rake of teeth marks near my sons eye snuffed out any remaining affection I had for the animal.

Way too many people own dogs who don't have the skill or the time to take care of them. I'm guilty as charged, however my wife does take good care of the dogs and loves them.

[Sequoia]

60. That's for sure.

I like some of them but I don't want one...like a baby that never grows up. This boss I once had, who could qualify for the Bad Boss Contest, took her big dog to New York and made her employees walk it in Central Park. Thank God, I was gone by then. Poodles are the worst just about, and Pugs are ugly. I do like those German Pointer dogs though...smart. We had some German Shepards in the air force who were supposed to detect cannibis but mostly they just growled and snarled at you. One handler, said his dog was jealous of women who'd come up to him and talk. He didn't care, he just loved his dog.

[zabet]

2. Curious as to whether the dog was..

trained to smell drugs or explosives? This could readily
explain why he attacked a mail carrier if the scent of what
he was trained to recognize was in the mail bag. Just a thought,
not trying to make light of the post man's injuries.

[soothsayer]

5. It would have obeyed the stop command if it were following its training.

sounds like it's just that time honored tradition of trying to kill letter carriers!

[zabet]

6. Maybe, maybe not.

Even trained dogs, in the 'heated focus of the moment' can be
seemingly deaf to their handlers initially.

I prefer my kitties anyway.

[RaleighNCDUer]

9. What a dog hears:

XXXXX XX XXXXX XXX XXX XXXXX XX NO XXX XXXX XXXX XX XXX XX XXXX GOOD DOG XXX XXXXX XXXXXXX XXX.

What a cat hears:

XXXXX XX XXXXX XXX XXX XXXXX XX XX XXX XXXX XXXX XX XXX XX XXXX XXXX XXX XXX XXXXX XXXXXXX XXX.

[zabet]

14. ROFL!!!

You can own a dog but, you are lucky if a cat chooses
to grace your life with its presence.

[shireen]

23. if you're really lucky, cat owns you

and if cat is really really lucky, pet human worships cat.

I love those magnificent creatures but am allergic to them. But I continue to worship them froma distance. :)

[SharonAnn]

64. Dogs have owners. Cats have staff. Their people will call your people.

[BadgerLaw2010]

17. Police dogs also aren't supposed to go for the throat

They're trained to detain, not kill.

[Kingshakabobo]

7. I assume the cop was cited for having a dog off-leash?

It sounds like Erik needs to retire. I hope the cop doesn't have kids at home.

I never understood why cops use a poor dog to do their dirty work. First of all, even the most highly trained dog isn't 100% reliable as evidenced by THIS and the previous incident this dog had. Second of all, I never thought it was fair to send a "dumb animal" in to a dangerous situation where it might get killed.

[Marrah_G]

8. Because of their sense of smell

Police Dogs can do things no human officer can do.

[Kingshakabobo]

30. I don't have a problem with drug dogs.......

.....well, I do when 4th amendment rights are often violated - but that's another thread...


I have a problem with attack dogs that are sent in to situations when "it's too dangerous for person." Like when they send them in to a building with a barricaded armed suspect.

[Raskolnik]

61. I agree that it is heartbreaking when a dog is hurt in those situations

But isn't it preferable to a person being hurt/killed?

And, one of the advantages of sending a dog against an armed & barricaded person is the fact that the dog can often disarm the person without using lethal force. If a human officer has to try to disable that suspect, he probably is going to have to use his own firearm, and the chances of a bad outcome for the human participants increases.

[Kingshakabobo]

65. "But isn't it preferable to a person being hurt/killed?"

No! A SWAT team can make entry with heavy armor, shields, flash-bangs, smoke, tear gas, etc. ....To send an un-protected dog in is cruel. Period....and if the criminal is so violent he/she is shooting at people, I don't believe they are worth sacrificing an innocent dog to mitigate the criminals physical harm.

[Raskolnik]

68. While I agree that there are plenty of humans that I would be eager to trade for a good dog

Not every police standoff involves an irredeemable person. Quite often people in armed standoffs with the police are mentally ill, under the influence of drugs, caught up in something that spiraled out of control faster than they imagined, or all three.

In those situations, sending in a heavily armed/armored SWAT team almost guarantees an escalation of violence that, at best, will exponentially increase the risk of serious harm to the officers and the suspect. Could you look a police officer in the eye and tell him that he should risk his or her own life when the use of a canine officer remains a valid option?

As much as I love animals, and as much as seeing an animal hurt pains any good-hearted person, I think the calculus should still favor human life.

[Marrah_G]

84. There are all kinds of dogs

Often they will be sent into a dark building where someone is hiding because they can find the subject very quickly as opposed to a few policemen searching and getting ambushed.

[bbgrunt]

10. sounds like luckey wasn' t so lucky.

[Blue Diadem]

12. I'm always leary of trained police dogs. This is the 2nd attack I've heard of in the last few weeks.

The other one was in Ohio and the dog actually bit his handler. The officer had reached across the dog to open the door and the dog turned and bit his nose/mouth area.

Yet not far from here a man was going to go to trial for shooting a police dog that came onto his property and wouldn't let him get his toddler out of the car. He pled to something lesser but they were certainly going to go after him with everything they could for killing a canine officer.

[HeeBGBz]

16. I got bit by an ex-police dog at the kennel where I work

I walked into his run and he jumped me. Drew blood and bruised my arm and back before I got out of there.

Of course, I didn't find out he was an ex-police dog until after the fact.

[Blue Diadem]

28. That had to be terrifying.

You really should have been notified before hand.

[HeeBGBz]

50. Yup, it made me a LOT more cautious and aware of behavior

I'm just lucky he went for my arm and not my face because I was bent down to his level. I should never have turned my back on him.

[Kingshakabobo]

35. Here's one.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk9yHKQRE94

[Blue Diadem]

38. OMG! I can't bring myself to watch the video after seeing the pic.

Wow..I'll just have to wonder how bad the man looked after that.

[StarryNite]

42. If you watched it you would

see why it happened. That guy first puts his hands around the dogs neck and then gets in the dogs face. I'm sure that dog felt threatened by a stranger doing that to him.

[Blue Diadem]

44. Ahh..I understand. I think that makes a difference and wouldn't

include that in the same category as the other attacks.

[Kingshakabobo]

69. Here's another...

Watch this video.. I don't know whether to laugh or cry at how stupid this owner is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY9EKHAqUUI

[StarryNite]

72. OMG!

That dog's owner is a total nut case.

[Kingshakabobo]

66. I agree that he approached/handled that dog poorly.......

.....but you would think a highly trained police dog would act better. Especially since he had been introduced and near the dog before the attack

I'm constantly telling kids AND ADULTS how to approach my dog. She's NEVER tried to bite anyone but it makes me nervous when people get in her face right away.

[StarryNite]

74. While highly trained, I think his

natural instincts took over. Put yourself in his place. Say you are just introduced to somebody and all of a sudden they come at you in what you perceive to be a threatening way. Being a human you probably wouldn't be prone to biting his face. However, you would probably not just stand there if you felt you were in danger.

That's why like you, I'm not at all comfortable with strangers getting in my dog's face either. I can see that it makes her very uncomfortable and I certainly don't want her to bite somebody out of fear.

[StarryNite]

39. Did you notice the catagory for that video?

Some people have a strange sense of humor.

[Kingshakabobo]

47. Yikes. Didn't see that. It doesn't surprise me though for YouTube. n/t

[Clark2008]

56. LOL - most of them are wimps when they're not "on duty."

I made a good friend in one of the police officers I used to cover when I was a reporter because his dog ADORED me.

Every time I'd go to the station and the dog was there, he'd curl up on my feet while I was copying reports and sit there as if to say he didn't want me to leave. He was a, forgive the expression, pussy cat.

I'm sure animals turn - but the fact remains is that there are thousands of police dogs, rescue dogs, drug dogs and bomb dogs under "employ," but we hear of relatively FEW times when they are errant. It happens, but not much comparatively speaking.

[Blue Diadem]

63. I was googling around and found several. The video for this one explains alot

http://cbs5.com/investigates/local_story_279021910.html

That dog is known as a sweet dog too. The thing is..you just never know and I can't help but wonder if canine handlers/officers, knowing their dog is trained just simply trust them too much.

[StarryNite]

77. That woman was victimized twice

Once by the dog and then again when she got the bill.

[Arkansas Granny]

13. It sounds to me like Erik needs to retire. If a trained dog engages

in an unprovoked attack and will not heed his handlers commands, he is not fit to be used in public in any capacity. And, by the way, why was the dog unleashed?

[kestrel91316]

15. That dog needs to be immediately and permanently removed

from the police force. PRONTO.

And the handler needs to face criminal negligence charges and a civil lawsuit. I assume they have LEASH LAWS there.

Nasty, dangerous, uncontrolled/uncontrollable dogs are one reason I don't do dogs anymore. I know what it's like to have teeth very near a jugular.

[StarryNite]

36. I heard an equine vet

say that he wasn't afraid to work on horses at all. It was cats that he was afraid of. He said it was something about their teeth and claws. To each his own, I guess. :D

[yardwork]

54. lol! I'm personally afraid of horses

I've been attacked and bitten by both a dog and a cat, but I'm not afraid of them. I've never been attacked by a horse, but they scare me. Something about those huge teeth and two tons on hooves.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

79. LOL...

Cat bathing is a martial art..

My sister in law had a cat that fell into the used motor oil pan right after an oil change and we had to bathe it.

Three big adults ended up bitten and clawed before it was done.

It was roughly like trying to juggle a couple of running chainsaws.

[frogcycle]

18. and of course it really was NOT "unprovoked"

We just don't understand what the trigger was. It was not what the trainers intended, obviously.

SOMETHING triggered this dog to do as he was trained to do. The idea that you can train an animal to be a robot is foolish. Their brains are complex; they have emotions, and they can have neuroses. Anyone ever hear the expressions "going postal?" "road rage?"

The real issue here is that he was off leash. Leash laws are for a reason.

I am infuriated when I am biking or running in a park and someone has let their dog off lead because they think somehow once they are out of sight of the crowds the laws no longer apply. They say "oh, he won't hurt you" while the dog is charging me. How am I supposed to know they have the slightest clue what the dog will or will not do? That's why they have dog parks. Or fenced-in backyards.

I had a dog - a little one - that we got through a rescue group. She was very withdrawn when we got her - clearly had been mistreated. She never barked, seemed to have no idea what playing was. My wife worked with her patiently for a long, long time, and got her to love playing "fetch." She was the most placid creature you can imagine. She insisted on curling up on my lap if there was a hint of thunder, and trembled until it was gone. But bicycles made her go nuts. When I was walking her, if a kid came by on a bike she barked furiously, charged at them, and, I believe, would have attacked if not on the leash. It happened every time. Even when my wife was walking her and I rode toward them on my bike.

One time we took her with us to meet my daughter at a suburban rail station. When we got close to the platform she suddenly got frenzied. Started barking, running up and down the platform (within range of the leash, of course). Started looking all around. SOME memory had been triggered. We'll never know what it was. Oh, and one time I used a word in conversation - can't remember what it was - and she walked around me and sat down as show dogs are trained to do.

I wonder where this particular police dog came from? Do they know its history from birth?

[EFerrari]

21. I hate running into off leash strange dogs on my walks with my dog.

And I get right up in the owners' face about this. For a while last year when my dog was still a puppy, I carried a stick just in case but, it ruins the walk if all you're really doing is scouting for an oncoming mouthful of teeth. :mad:

[frogcycle]

25. sonme people who live up the street had a sheltie they let run loose

It always charged us when we walked by - with or without our dog. It "protected" the street by its corner lot and the neighboring lots. It was very aggressive - all bared teeth and head lowered. And since the neighborhood is big lots, you had to deal with it for about 500 ft.

I talked to them about the leash law - they would start tying it up (I hate to see that too) but then the kids would take it out to play and they could not control it. If they were there they'd eventually come get it and drag it home by the collar. Finally I made my own pepper spray. Put a little of the hottest hotsauce I could find in a pump-spray bottle of water. I hated using it, but it worked. After two times of zapping it, it learned what the bottle was and would not come within 20 ft of me. And if I aimed the bottle at it, it turned and ran. Downside was the bottle would tend to dribble if I put it in my pocket and I zapped myself a few times.

The people eventually installed one of those "electric fences." They are fine until the day they are not working and you don't know it.

[EFerrari]

29. That spray is a good idea -- and much better than the consequences

for that dog if s/he attacks someone.

I tried to use a spray bottle with plain water to train Kid. Turns out, she likes it! She's also addicted to ice cubes. :)

[CreekDog]

51. I adore dogs but I am adamant that they be on leash

In an uncontrolled environment.

This is not just for our safety, but for the dog's as well.

[EFerrari]

55. Completely agree. If anything happened to my girl

because I was too stupid to have her on a leash, it would be unbearable.

[flvegan]

19. I was bitten by a retired (age) police dog when I was a kid

On my paper route. Dog ran across the street to come after me on my bike. Owner of the dog? Retired cop. Needless to say, the police did nothing about it.

[truebrit71]

20. I bet that wouldn't have happened at Michael Vick's house....

...the dog would be like "...wait...who's house is this?....I'M OUTTA HERE!!!"

:evilgrin::hide:

(BTW I'm a bona fide dog person so go easy with the flames okay?)

[kenny blankenship]

22. Easy: the dog thought he was a cop. Postmen's uniforms should be a different color.

without any screaming eagle heraldry on them, so abused dogs do not mistake them for thugs with badges.

[Raskolnik]

41. Who abused this dog? n/t

[kenny blankenship]

43. Who owns it?

[Raskolnik]

49. The police department, presumably. Now I'll ask again: who abused this dog?

Do you have any facts to offer, or are being coy just to cover up a silly premise?

[kenny blankenship]

57. Oh I can see you are a VERY serious individual Mr. Raskolnikov

and I am very impressed by your challenges, the gruff tone, and your demand for "facts". Yes, you have shown me that you are "an exceptional man", not one to be trifled with!

So I won't trouble you with an explanation of my little joke, I know you wouldn't like it anyway, except to say this: that whenever humans enslave animals and force them to take roles in their sordid fights among themselves - wars between states, class wars, drug wars, etc. - they are abusing animals. When an animal so abused for years turns on a human, no one should be very surprised. That is what we have trained them to do.

[Raskolnik]

59. Ahhh, the dog was part of a canine proletariat?

If you honestly think that police dogs are "abused" by definition, then you have such a non-standard and sweeping definition of "abuse" that it isn't really worth arguing about.

And, for the record, if you can't help but get your shorts in a bunch when someone asks you to provide substantiation for a post, perhaps you shouldn't post vague insinuations of a specific act of misconduct.

[kenny blankenship]

70. I humbly thank you for letting me go with just a warning - I'll pull your leg no further, Sir!

That's a promise. You have demonstrated your lawful authority over me - and how! When in the future you tell me "Move along now", move along I shall. When you smash my brake lights and say "Where's the fire at, son?" I will not sass you back with "In your mother's mouth - everyone's manning the pumps!" Those days of insolence to authority are over for me. I will be thrilled to take traffic signals from your hand, and parking violations from your pen, from here on out.

But are you SURE you hadn't better report me to the Homeland Security honchos? I mean when I hear you explain what I did -an insinuation!- a vague insinuation!- that sounds pretty doggone serious to me. I bet that's worth a nickel of slammer time. There were some other long words in there too. If the higher ups found out you let me go, who knows what could happen?

[Raskolnik]

71. Are you under the impression that non sequiturs are clever?

Give that another try. I hope you can do better.

[kenny blankenship]

73. I'm taking your wise admonition to heart. No vague in-sin-u- insin -u- a-shuns from me.

what's a non sequitur?

[Raskolnik]

78. Feel free to make all the silly posts you like.

You made a statement that, in my opinion, didn't hold up to scrutiny. We discussed it. You think that using dogs for police work is abuse per se, and I think that in order to sustain that position, one would have to employ a less than useful definition of "abuse".

Its not exactly a debate for the ages, and I don't know why you're still flailing around about it.


edit typo

[kenny blankenship]

81. I'm just curious to know, maybe, what kind of "mind" sees nothing wrong in using animals

to do its dirty work against other human beings. Dogs and horses, mules and dolphins don't ask to be part of our wars.

Feel free to have the last word. As the "serious" contestant opposed to the silly participant in this debate, you can hardly resist.

[Raskolnik]

82. The kind of "mind" that recognizes that in certain situations, animals are better suited

and in certain situations, it is morally preferable to endanger an animal's life than that of a human being.

In the use of police dogs, I think there are myriad situations in which using an animal significantly lessens the risk of serious injury to both innocent and perhaps not-so-innocent people. Perhaps if you view police as "thugs with badges", you would prefer to endanger the life of a police officer rather than a canine, but I don't see things that way.

It is certainly heartbreaking when a police dog is harmed in the line of duty, but unnecessary loss of human life is more heartbreaking in my opinion.

If you care to respond to my opinion, please feel free.

[foo_bar]

80. You have nothing to lose but your choke chains!

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

75. ROFLMAO!!!!!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

God that extremism cracked me up. Too funny! :spray:

[LeftHander]

24. Imagine that....train a dog to attack people.....

and it attacks people....

[shireen]

26. All humans are vicious psychopathic degenerates

who enjoy killing, raping, and robbing others. I'm basing that on watching the crime beat on the local news.

A few days ago, it was pit bulls. Now it's police dogs.

In a large population of any given organism, some will display abberant behavior. Unfortunately, it's those isolated incidents that get all the attention.

Meanwhile, I'm still living in fear of a meteorite crashing thru my window.... hey! it actually happened to someone else! All meteorites are dangerous!

[StarryNite]

34. Exactly!

Now this will be the justification for some people that the police should quit using police dogs. People will pounce on anything if they can use it to justify what they already thought. It gets to be silly after awhile.

[mzteris]

27. complete medical checkup

is in order, imo.

[LostinVA]

45. Yep

I know someone who was bit pretty bad by her boyfriend's rottweiler, who never previously showed any aggression. It turns out, the dog had a massive brain tumor, which made it go nuts.

[johnaries]

33. Pit Bulls should be banned! Oh, it wasn't a pit?

never mind.
:eyes:

[Johonny]

37. perhaps

the dog heard about the recent stamp price hike and thought he was being robbed!

[coco77]

46. I wonder what will be the sentence for the dog...

[marmar]

62. Dogs Gone Wild!!!

Quite frankly, given the current state of human behavior, I'm surprised more creatures haven't turned on us.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

67. the dog going postal?

that's a switch.