Growing Epidemic of K-9 Abuse, Deaths Prompts PETA to Call for End Use of Police Dogs

For Immediate Release:
August 6, 2024

Contact:
Rachel Hershkovitz 202-483-7382

Days ago, a beloved police dog named Vader died a miserable death in an overheated Missouri patrol car; last week another police dog was struck in the face as punishment for failing to act on command: just two incidents that mark a dramatic uptick in reported cases of police dogs dying of overheating or in other horrific ways and of officers violently abusing their K-9 partners. PETA—which had long supported the use of K-9s—sent letters today to the top five law-enforcement organizations in the country, urging them to recognize that the time has come to encourage their members to phase out the use of dogs altogether. Some law-enforcement agencies are already using robot dogs and other 21^st century methods of dealing with crime.

The following cases from just the past two months prompted PETA’s letter:

• Vader, a K-9 in Arnold, Missouri, died of heatstroke just last week after he was left unattended in a patrol vehicle and the safety equipment failed to activate.
• Viral video footage showed a Dayton, Ohio, police officer striking his K-9 partner in the face. The Dayton Police Department later released a statement justifying the officer’s actions.
• A Fayetteville, North Carolina, police officer was caught on camera repeatedly punching a K-9 and dragging him by the collar. Again in this case, the police department justified the officer’s actions.
• A former deputy in Bryan County, Georgia, was charged with animal cruelty after being caught on video repeatedly hitting his K-9 partner, Nero, and slamming him to the ground.
• A police officer in Prince George’s County, Maryland, was charged with six counts of animal cruelty after both of his assigned K-9s, Daisy and Spartacus, were found to have “gaping open wounds” on their necks from electric prong collars.
• A K-9 in Dorchester County, South Carolina, was found dead in his handler’s vehicle, reportedly from heatstroke.
• K-9 Nitro in Coalinga, California, died after spending the weekend in an outdoor kennel in temperatures reaching 114 degrees.
• Coba, a K-9 with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, was fatally shot while his team members were serving a felony warrant.

Many more cases are detailed on PETA’s website here.

PETA frequently collaborates with law-enforcement agencies across the nation to investigate, charge, and prosecute animal abusers, and its response to previous incidents was to call on agencies to employ humane K-9 training and handling methods, install devices in squad cars that alert officers if the air conditioning stops working, and retire K-9s involved in harmful incidents. But the widespread epidemic of cruelty to these dogs now has PETA calling for K-9s to be replaced with modern policing technology, such as tactical robots.

“K-9s are in crisis, with dogs being punched, body-slammed, and left to die in the heat by their own police partners, even though there are good officers who respect and protect their dogs,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA is calling on law-enforcement agencies across the country to end the programs that subject these dogs to violence from birth to death.”

PETA notes that several departments across the country—including the New York City Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police, and the Houston Police Department—are using tactical robots, which can be deployed in situations that could otherwise result in serious injury or death for K-9s and human officers.

PETA’s letters were sent to the leaders of the National Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Sheriffs’ Association, the National Troopers Coalition, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, and the Fraternal Order of Police.

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.