Dear Editor:
Recently a letter appeared
‘in your paper from a citizen
expressing her concern about
the disciplining of one of our
police dogs during a training
exercise (Dog discipline dis-
turbing, Oct. 20).

‘1 too found this letter dis-
turbing and ordered an inves-
tigation into this incident.

_T have corresponded
directly with the concerned
itizen, however because the
letter of complaint became a
* public document I fee! that
our citizens also deserve an
explanation.

Following are the relevant
excerpts from the letter I sent
to the complainant.

+ “IE have had this matter:
‘reviewed. by. members of my.
staff... When" our’ dogs: are
lected 1 the police dog rO-
gram’ they are ‘selected: from
und the world.
“These dogs are: selected”
for their. dominant. type ‘per- :
sonality. and the independence
ey show. If! they were people
they would fall into.the “A”-
type personality description..

From an carly age they. are.

removed from their litter. and

is no consequence: fer this
behaviour. Your famil: pet will
naturally sniff other dogs’
urine to see who fas been
around and mark their territo-
ry accordingly. For a police-
service dog this is unwanted
behaviour as it interferes wih
their ability to do their job If
left unchecked this behaviour
_ will eventually lead to the dog

being removed trom the pro-

m.

“In the case you witnessed,
the handler wa: administering
a correction to an’ unwanted
behaviour. The offices was
working a training track with
his dog. During the course of
the track, his dog had got into

. animal urine on two previous -

 eccasions.
’ “A verbal correction was
“used and the dog resumed
tracking. On’ the’ third _inci-
“dent, the one you witnessed,
“the handler had attempted to
ise a verbal correction.

“The dog -procecded to
ignore the. correction. and
started to lick the urine. The
handler. approached: his do:
-and grabbed him by the scrui
“of the neck. He raised his dog
in the air and d apempied te

0 correct - ithe inappropriate
chaviour' the: dog was
exhibitin:

: sane: ie ane must do’ this

necessary between a_ police
dog and its handler. This rela-
tionship exists even between 3
pet ind its owner. This is nor-
ma Uy done through the every-
“aay bonding, which occurs

tetween the master and his
dog.

“Corrections ate made
whea unwanted behaviour is
exhibited. What is acceprable
in a pet is not acceptable in a
police-service dog. The han-
dies makes cye-to-cye contact
with the dog in order co
regain control.

he officer was attempt-
ing to place his dog against a
tree. Once he lifted him he
realized thar the tree was too
far away from the fence. He
then placed him up against
the fence. I can assure you
that ic was unintentional to
bend the dog over the fenec
and the dog was not injured in
this incident.

“I wish to point out chat
this is rot a common type of -
correction which is adminis-
tered on a daily basis. In this

case, the correction lasted.

four to five seconds. The do;
was then returned to the trac
and completed it.

“Iam sure you can appre-
ciate that in order to correct a
dog’s inappropriate behaviour
the correction must be admin-
istered when the behaviour
occurs.

“I wish to apologize to you

- and the others in your car who
had to witness this corrective

action. It.was an unfortunate

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incident which th
Wer had to corr
“The correction you
observed is used by our train-
ing facility in Alberta and by
dog handlers throughout
Canada and only whea it is
absolutely necessary.
Royal

dog han-

“ft costs the
Canadian Mounted Police .
approximately $70,600 to District of West Vancouver and School
rain a police service ‘dog. We Distri 4 :
spend a great deal in money strict No. est Vancouve
and time in maintaining their
skills to do the job they do.
“I wish to assure you that
we, as an organization, do not
and will not tolerate any type
of abuse of these animals.”
G.C. McRae, Inspector
Operational Supvort
Officer
North

Notice is hereby given that the following persons
have been duly elected as mayor, councillors and
School Trustees for the District of West Vancouver: [f

Mayor: Ron Wood (3 year term).
Councillors: John Clark, Victor Durman, Jean

Ferguson, Ken Haycock, Bill Soprovich, Allan
Williams (3 year terms).
School Trustees: Clive Bird, Erica Bell-Lowther,
Mary Fawley, Rick Francis, David George :
Stevenson 3 year terms).
Dated at West Vancouver, B.C: this 24th day of
November 1999. . - :

Vancouver

; Margeret.K. Warwick, If
Municipal Clerk(§

Blue Mikade China ; Municipal Clerky

1637 Lonsdals Ave. N. Van. 984-6700
1730 Marine Drive, W. Van. 926-7710

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