The world is filled with stupid people. Case in point, the North Carolina man who decided that it was prudent to mess with a police dog and steal the K-9’s toy.
Most of us are aware that police dogs are highly trained and skilled. K-9 units are often the pride and joy of police departments. The service dogs are trained to find narcotics, explosives, and missing persons. Both the dog and the human officer are required to go through extensive training. According to the Troy, Mich., police department’s website, “Dogs selected for K-9 duty are professionally bred German Shepherds. Each must pass an extensive veterinarian screening prior to being placed into service. In addition to regular patrol duties the teams track criminal suspects or lost persons, search buildings, locate evidence or lost articles, and detect narcotics.”
In other words, police dogs are not to be trifled with. The vast majority of people, including criminals, understand that and steer clear of K-9 units when the service dogs are working. (In my experience, police dogs are fun to interact with when the dogs are off duty.) One North Carolina man ignored what most of us know, and criminally inserted himself into the middle of Troy’s K-9 unit training.
The Detroit Free Press provides the details,
It happened April 5 when Eli, his handler and other officers and police dogs were training in a field behind a Holiday Inn Express, with the officers laying scent tracks for the pups to follow. One officer left behind a toy for Eli to find.
A man started yelling at them through an open motel room window, police said, demanding to know what they were doing. The officer explained they were there training the dogs, and advised the man not to touch the property left in the field.
The officer then left to start the track some distance away.
“When the police canine successfully followed the scent, the dog toy was not where it was left,” Troy police posted Wednesday afternoon on the department’s Facebook page.
An officer found the man’s white Ford Econoline van in the hotel parking lot — and spotted the toy ball in one of the cup holders.
The man, who is 40 and from High Point, North Carolina, came outside as police were impounding his vehicle. He was issued a misdemeanor citation for larceny of police property.
And Eli got his toy back.
The fact that people exist who believe that they can steal a police dog’s toy and get away with it does not bode well for civilization.
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