YORK COUNTY, Pa. (WHP) — K9 Rex, a Harrisburg Capitol Police K9, is recovering after being injured in the field earlier this week.
For any K9 who is injured in the field– it is as much of a physical journey as it is mental.
I spoke with K9 trainers today at Stateline Canine who told me what could happen when a police dog suffers a traumatic injury.
Christopher Hunt is the lead trainer at Stateline Canine in Hanover. He knows first hand how important training is for any dog., and what trauma signs to look for if they’re injured in the field.
“Some things that may happen is the dog may show avoidance to loud noises if it was an explosion or a gunfire incident or things like that but a lot of times the dogs are selected ahead of time to be able to handle the things that they’re going to come across in their job,” said Hunt.
If a police K9 is injured in the field, they’ll receive medical treatment and will be able to return to work after a few re-introductory exercises.
Those exercises focus on reacclimating the dog to police environments– targeting stressors from their experience.
In some cases however, police K9s can develop a form of post traumatic stress, which then would likely lead to retirement.
Officers are typically discouraged from using their dogs in certain situations when a weapon is present.
“Dogs are not a lethal force so if somebody presents lethal force the dogs aren’t always the best tool to use at that time, but sometimes you have situations where people don’t appear to be armed or it’s a very calm call initially and things escalate,” said Hunt.
In Pennsylvania, officers are required to train up to 16 hours, including animal care before handling a K9.
If they believe their dog may be in danger– they are also trained on how to move their k9 to safety.
“Nobody cares more for their dog than the officers themselves,” said Hunt. “They spend a lot of time with them, no officer wants to put their dog in harms way.”
In Pennsylvania it is illegal to intentionally strike or injure a police K9 and anyone who does could face a third degree felony.
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