‘Put down police dogs’
December 22 2013 at 01:47pm
By Jeff Wicks
By Jeff Wicks
INLSA
Police dog handlers
have in the past been allowed to buy and take home boarded police dogs and keep
them as family pets. Photo: SIBUSISO NDLOVU
Durban - Confusion reigns over a new
standing order from eThekwini Metro Police which ordered that specialised
police dogs that are injured or too old to work should be put down, a decision
that has outraged dog handlers and animal rights activists.
In the past, boarded dogs could be
bought by their handlers.
The order, which had originally
emanated from Metro Police logistics head Innocent Chamane, has now been put on
hold by the council and contested by the force’s deputy head, Steve Middleton.
According to Chamane, police dogs
should be viewed as “an asset” and, as such, ought to be destroyed when they
are no longer able to work.
In an e-mail seen by the Sunday
Tribune, Chamane insists that boarded dogs and horses from the mounted unit
should be destroyed.
“In the absence of the mentioned pieces
of confirmation, it will not be proper to rule out the possibility of putting
both the dogs and the horses down.
“I understand the issue of
personalising assets, but we must be careful about using emotions against the
act.”
In the e-mail, he outlines that the
SPCA will be the organisation to be tasked with putting down the animals.
“In terms of disposal, you cannot
dispose of the item and then use it again for the same purpose,” he said in the
e-mail.
“I did tell the dog unit and horse unit
staff that disposing means that you are making that particular item unusable.
“This means that you cannot dispose of
a horse and then give it to someone to ride again, or dispose of a dog and give
it to someone to use it again for the same purpose,” he said.
Middleton contradicts Chamane,
insisting that there is a tariff in place that allows officers to purchase
their old service dogs.
“We have members deployed with dogs
that move as a team, and this team builds a very unique bond with each other.
“There comes a time when, even though a
member can carry on working, the dog comes to the end of its operational
deployment life.
“The tariff was instituted to allow the
respective handlers to buy their dogs to take home ultimately, so they could
enjoy the rest of their lives in comfort with families that they knew,”
Middleton wrote in an e-mail to Eugene Nzama, head of the Metro Police, asking
for him to intervene.
“Thus, I am refreshing your memory
about why this tariff was instituted and authorised, and I am sure you will not
allow the alleged instruction (to destroy the animals) to be followed through,”
he wrote.
One officer, who could not be named
because he is not authorised to speak to the media, said the bond between
humans and dogs was special.
“We spend years working with our one
dog, and we develop a bond.
“I know that my dog is like a child to
me, and I care for him just like he does for me.
“Now all of a sudden I am told that
when he is too old to work, or if he gets injured, he will have to be put down.
That is something that I will never accept,” the officer said.
But Chamane defended his stance, saying
the asset disposal policy of the city was clear, and that he was simply
following it to the letter.
“All that I am doing is following what
is prescribed in policy, and that is that. In terms of the disposal of the
animals because they are assets, that will be handled by the SPCA.
“The city will under no circumstances
sell these animals. They will be given directly to the SPCA,” he said.
However, after the Sunday Tribune
intervened, the city seems to have changed tack.
Communications director Tozi Mthethwa
said that handlers would be able to keep their retired dogs.
“According to current Metro Police
standing orders and tariffs passed by council, at the end of a dog’s
operational life, it may be taken over by the handler in order for the dog to
retire in the hands of someone with whom it is emotionally connected,” she
said.
jeff.wicks@inl.co.za
Sunday Tribune
