Police Officer Suffers Bite Wound to Elbow from Police Dog
A police officer suffered minor bite injuries after he was bitten by a police dog. The incident occurred just after a high speed chase involving three armed robbery suspects. Police officers used barriers on the road to stop the suspects from fleeing. After the chase was over the police officer was conducting a search inside the suspect’s SUV and the dog reportedly mistook the officer for a robber and attacked him.
The dog then pursued the actual suspects into the woods but lost their scent. Police said they are working with the dog in on a training plan to ensure these types of mistakes do not happen again. Authorities did not have a detailed description of the suspects and are asking anybody that has information to step forward.
This incident demonstrates that even a dog’s owner or trainer can be attacked by the dog. Under the right circumstances, the dog can easily make a mistake whether a person is trying to harm them or not. Unlike humans, dogs act on instinct and they will quickly attack if they sense somebody is a threat to them. Given the training that police dogs receive, it is possible that since the officer was in the suspect vehicle, the dog followed his training and attacked the officer after being given the command to go to suspect vehicle. The dog may have been trained to attack on sight, therefore he quickly attacked the officer because he was in the vehicle.
Regardless of how much training a dog may get, an unforeseen accident is always possible. As dog owners people should never fall into the assumption that their dog will not attack them just because they are familiar with them. This incident shows that even highly trained dogs tend to make mistakes at some point and dog owners should always be aware and prepared for an accidental bite or attack given the right circumstances. In this incident, if the person that was attacked had been an innocent bystander, the police officer’s could potentially be held accountable for any injuries that may have occurred. The attack on the officer could also have been much worse. Fortunately, the officer only suffered minor injuries in the attack.
