Dayton Police Department Must Answer for Officer’s K-9 Abuse—and Not by Victim-Blaming the Dog, Says PETA

For Immediate Release:
July 30, 2024

Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382

In response to the now-viral video showing a Dayton Police Department officer walking over to a crouching K-9, straddling him, grabbing his collar, and striking him forcefully in the face outside the Tomcat Heavy Duty Truck Repair shop on N. Dixie Drive, PETA rushed a letter to Chief of Police Kamran Afzal and Assistant Chief Eric Henderson calling for an investigation and for the dog to be moved to safety. The group is urging Afzal and Henderson to initiate an unbiased, third-party investigation into the incident—not its own insider “review,” which started with a statement blaming the dog for apparently biting, an act the animal was trained to perform and no longer engaged in when the blow was delivered. PETA is also urging Afzal and Henderson to remove the dog from his abuser’s custody and ensure that this violent officer has no contact with animals again.

“If the Dayton Police Department can’t commit to treating K-9s humanely, it shouldn’t have a K-9 unit,” says PETA Vice President of Legal Advocacy Daniel Paden. “PETA points out that K-9s risk their lives for humans and that the bare minimum they should receive in return is to live without abuse at human hands.”

The group, which encourages police departments to reconsider the use of K-9s altogether in this age of technology, tracks cases of K-9 abuse on its website here.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Afzal and Henderson follows.

July 29, 2024

Kamran Afzal, Chief of Police

Lt. Colonel Eric Henderson, Assistant Chief

Dayton Police Department

Dear Chief Afzal and Lt. Col. Henderson:

PETA has received video footage recorded by a bystander, outside the Tomcat truck repair shop at 3501 N. Dixie Dr. on or about the afternoon of July 24, showing what appears to be a Dayton Police Department officer abusing a K-9 during what seems to be a suspect apprehension incident. In the footage, the handler, apparently a white male, is seen walking approximately 10 feet away from the person being apprehended by two other officers over to the dog, who appears to be a sable German shepherd, crouched and waiting in a “down” position, looking at the handler. The man stands over and straddles the stationary K-9, grabs the dog’s collar with his left hand, winds up his right arm, and hits the animal forcefully in the head or face while holding the collar. The K-9 rolls on his side as he takes the impact. The video ends when a sheriff’s office patrol vehicle pulls up and a deputy exits the vehicle and walks around toward the K-9 team. Since this video is going viral on social media, we wanted to contact you right away so that this incident can be investigated swiftly and properly addressed.

We have tentatively identified the handler as Officer xxxxxxxxxxxx and the K-9 as Ronnie. We respectfully request that the dog be removed immediately from this handler’s custody and that the officer be reassigned to duties that do not involve animals. The K-9 should be evaluated medically and behaviorally before potentially returning to duty. We also ask that you engage a third-party agency, such as the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office or the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, to conduct an independent investigation of the incident. Based on our experience with similar cases across the nation—including in Salisbury, North Carolina, where a comparable incident sparked national and international outrage and an external investigation led to a recommendation to fire the abusive handler—we strongly recommend a thorough review of policies and training for K-9 handlers to ensure that only nonviolent, humane methods are being used. Not only is such violence cruel, it’s also ineffective. Experts agree that dogs learn and maintain desirable behavior best when trained with a reward-based system and that frightening or traumatic treatment induces fear and anxiety. If the Dayton Police Department cannot commit to treating K-9s humanely, it shouldn’t have a K-9 unit.

PETA works with and supports police departments across the country, often collaborating to ensure that animal abusers are investigated, charged, and prosecuted. We know that many handlers respect and value their K-9s, whom they trust with their lives in dangerous situations. Incidents in which officers commit acts of cruelty against animals—in this case, a K-9 partner—are deeply upsetting for the communities that look to law-enforcement officers not only to uphold the law but also to act as role models. We appreciate that the Dayton Police Department takes abusive behavior seriously enough to have a policy for handling complaints of officer-involved domestic violence. Studies have shown that those who are violent toward animals tend to be violent toward humans as well.

Thank you for your consideration of this important matter. I look forward to hearing from you very soon.

Most respectfully,

Allison Fandl

Manager of Special Projects

Cruelty Investigations Department | PETA