‘Good Dog, Bad Cop’: PETA’s Billboard Blitz Calls Out Fayetteville Police Department Over K-9 Abuse

For Immediate Release:
August 30, 2024

Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382

The embattled Fayetteville Police Department, which recently fired and arrested one of its own officers on suspicion of 12 felony counts of fraud, is facing another call for overhaul from PETA over the department’s apparent lack of disciplinary action against an officer who was filmed repeatedly punching a K-9 in the face, forcing his mouth shut, and yanking him by the collar so that his front legs were off the ground. In response, PETA has put up a billboard appeal near police headquarters and at other locations across the city urging the department to immediately grant the dog retirement in a safe and loving home and to reassign the handler so that he never works with animals again.

The group is also calling for an unbiased, third-party investigation into the incident—since the department’s own internal investigation failed to address the K-9’s current status or whether the abusive handler will face any consequences. The egregious case is among those that recently prompted PETA to change its position on the use of K-9s, with the group now calling on police departments nationwide to phase out the use of dogs altogether.

PETA notes that the department has so far opposed the release of body-camera footage of the incident, which occurred during a traffic stop outside a Walgreens store in June. The Fayetteville City Council recently voted in favor of petitioning a court to release the footage after several members of the public—including a PETA representative—spoke at a recent meeting expressing concern about the dog’s welfare and urging transparency.

“The Fayetteville Police Department has made a shameful attempt to justify this officer’s violence by victim-blaming the dog, who did only what K-9s are trained to do,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA is calling on the department to respond to its constituents’ justifiable concerns, retire the abused dog, and ensure that this abusive officer has no contact with animals again.”

PETA’s billboard appears in four locations near the Fayetteville Police Department, including near its headquarters on Winslow Street, near the intersection of Person Street and N. Eastern Boulevard, near the intersection of Clinton Road and N. Plymouth Street, and at 512 Gillespie St.

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.