Cop Demoted After Dumping His Retired K-9 Partner At Animal Shelter

[Demovictory9]

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jackson-mississippi-cop-demoted-after-ditching-retired-k-9-officer-at-animal-shelter_us_5c143540e4b049efa7525cea

Cop Demoted After Dumping His Retired K-9 Partner At Animal Shelter
The Jackson, Mississippi, police department said canine officers are “family and we do not feel they deserve anything less than a loving home in retirement.”

A Mississippi police officer has been busted down to patrol duty after ditching his retired K-9 partner, Ringo, at an animal shelter, according to police officials.

The Jackson Police Department assumed that officer Carl Ellis, who was Ringo’s handler, had continued to care for the former K-9 officer at his home after the dog’s retirement in October. Officials were later surprised to learn otherwise after Ringo’s initial trainer, Randy Hare, spotted the dog up for adoption on the shelter’s website.

“You get into this business because you appreciate dogs and what they’re able to do,” Hare told WAPT-TV. Ringo should never have landed in the shelter, added the trainer, who said dogs can often be treated like “equipment” by police departments. Hare has adopted Ringo.

“The Jackson Police Department respects and holds our canines with high regard just as we do any other officer within our department,” the department said in a statement provided to the Jackson Clarion Ledger. “They are family, and we do not feel they deserve anything less than a loving home in retirement.”

The 10-year-old dog sniffed out drugs for nine years for his department, and was also used in search and rescue operations, according to the newspaper.

When Ringo and fellow canine officer Alpha were retired in October, a Jackson detective said at the ceremony that they “served the city very well” and were responsible for the seizure of narcotics worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. He added: “They can be a dog now.”

[TeamPooka]

1. this makes me so mad.

[trueblue2007]

47. DEMOTE HIM ..... they should fire him. ALSO .... he should never be allowed to adopt a pet again.

ACTUALLY I SAY ....... Lock Him up. Throw him into the slammer until he gets "adopted"...................

[madaboutharry]

2. What a jerk.

All he needed to do was ask around. I’m sure there were plenty of people at work who would have adopted Ringo.

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. Not sure a highly trained dog like that should be adopted into your average family.

at the very least, the cop should have asked for help in placing the dog.
and I wonder.....was he paid anything extra for dog's upkeep as part of the "retirement"??

[madaboutharry]

8. I was thinking other cops he worked around.

[treestar]

19. why is that?

once he's retired, how is he going to be different and family un-friendly as opposed to other dogs?

[Jersey Devil]

20. He is trained to sniff out drugs, not as an attack dog

Any family would be fine with him. Of course, that might change if it is a family of drug dealers.

[robbob]

44. Good dog for parents of teenage children!

Just saying...glad my folks didnt have one back in the day! 😁

[Kittycow]

57. Oh my gosh.. can you imagine lol

[grantcart]

34. Actually the opposite is true

Law enforcement dogs are screened and trained for very specific purposes. Attack dogs are screened and trained for working with SWAT and aggressive breach situations and would need to be retired to their handlers homes.

Sniff dogs are screened from dogs showing super compatible traits because they come into contact with the general public and don't want a "bad bite" complaint. Any sniffdog that completed 10 years of contact with the general public with no incident would be a gentle dog at home.

[TeamPooka]

54. exactly

[JustAnotherGen]

53. We had a retired police dog

For two years when I was a kid. Rocky was extremely gentle and had a really good last three years. He was fragile the last year (13).

[Raine]

3. Disgraceful, he should never have been partnered

with a dog in the first place, I'm glad he was demoted. I hope Ringo gets a furever home with a loving family.

[Demovictory9]

7. the first trainer adopted him

[Raine]

11. Thanks for the update

[Irishxs]

4. I wonder if

the officer was trying to do a little drug stuff himself, and that’s why he got rid of him. Being busted is too good for him, he should have been fired.

[oasis]

17. Good observation. I'd bet that cop will be under the microscope. nt

[Duppers]

42. Totally agree, he should've been *fired*

He's an asshole.

[robbob]

45. What difference would that make?

I don’t think they train the dogs to call in hot tips?

[Kittycow]

58. I bet Rin-Tin-Tin could.

[robbob]

59. Or good old Lassie...

“What that girl? Timmies stashed his meth in the well???”

😁

[Solly Mack]

5. I'm glad Ringo is rid of the heartless asshole.

[Demovictory9]

9. The department says it is planning to introduce quarterly welfare checks for all police dogs, whethe

The department says it is planning to introduce quarterly welfare checks for all police dogs, whether active-duty or retired,

[Solly Mack]

12. Good

[912gdm]

10. oh man this pisses me off on so many levels.

these animals are given protections under the law that if they are harmed by a subject, that subject will get charged as if they harmed a human police officer. And I totally agree with that.

that officer should be held to that standard and be fired and heavily fined, not demoted.

[Stinky The Clown]

13. Ellis is clearly lower than whale shit. Ringo is now far better off

Man, that fucking pisses me off.

[sinkingfeeling]

14. Horrible!

[Hermit-The-Prog]

15. headline opportunity missed: HARE ADOPTS DOG

Y'all ease your anger by focusing on that short sentence, "Hare has adopted Ringo." I'll bet Ringo has a good retirement, now.

[Hortensis]

18. :) Thank goodness Hare('s girlfriend) was looking. The department

should have been at least wondering about this handler earlier, though. Vet records show the handler OFTEN dropped Ringo at a vet clinic for boarding, paid for by the department.

Back in 2000 President Clinton signed legislation allowing handlers to adopt service animals when retired. It looks like that may have turned into an assumption in some places that handlers just would. In the end, this one reportedly just called the vet's office where Ringo was again being boarded and told them to turn him over to the pound.

But as you say, Ringo's now back with the person who raised him as a puppy and looks like a happy dog.



http://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2018/12/handler-dumps-k-9.html

[smirkymonkey]

21. Awww! How could anyone let go of that sweet pupper?

I'm glad Ringo was finally rescued by someone who loves and appreciates him.

[Hortensis]

23. :)

It's very possible he remembered someone he was once so close to, even if in not the same way he's remembered.

[AllaN01Bear]

31. bravo on hare . this cutie made me melt.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

38. he looks huggable!

He may help train the next generation, too.

[Hortensis]

40. Melty huggie. :) And that's a nice thought. Maybe.

[John Fante]

55. I'm not crying, you're crying!

[dembotoz]

16. Did u ever work with someone for a really long time and not like them?

Happy dog has new home and all not all people like dogs or perhaps he used to like dogs

[Buckeyeblue]

22. But he is still free to shoot all of the young black men that he wants

Don't get me wrong, I love dogs. Just seems ironic to me that in Mississippi, of all places, this is what it takes for a police officer to get reprimanded--the mistreatment of a dog. Let's not forget the role of dogs in the fight against civil rights.

[Iggo]

24. Ayup.

[Duppers]

43. That was NOT the dogs' fault.

These dogs are trained to follow orders. Period. They are not the racist assholes - the assholes who commanded them are.

And I agree that officers shooting innocent black citizens should be in court, answering to their unjustified crimes, and then jailed.

[Buckeyeblue]

46. I don't understand your reply

[Duppers]

48. This statement: "the role of dogs in the fight against civil rights"

As if the dogs were somehow at fault.

What what was your point in saying that?

[Buckeyeblue]

49. Oh. I don't blame the dogs

I was just trying to point out the irony of the Mississippi police being more concerned with the dogs well being than many human's well being. I love dogs.

[Duppers]

50. Oh, thanks for that clarification.

I've heard people disparage police dogs for their behavior in attacking people of color, so that was my train of thought when responding to you.

My apologies. 🙏

[Buckeyeblue]

52. No worries. No need to apologize.

[Mariana]

62. Good grief, NO ONE thinks it was the dogs' fault. nt.

Dogs had a role in the civil rights struggle. That's just a fact. Saying so does not imply that said dogs were racist or that they were acting of their own volition.

Did you seriously think the poster believes the dogs were racist?

[Rizen]

25. I don't see what the problem is

Wouldn't the dog be adopted at the shelter?

[kcr]

28. Ask a trusted adult to tell you what happens to all the unwanted sheltered animals

It shouldn't be a stranger on DU.

[Rizen]

41. That's a worst case scenario.

Putting animals in a shelter does not mean it'll die.

[TexasBushwhacker]

51. Putting a senior animal at a shelter is usually a death sentence n/t

[Rizen]

60. 10 years is senior for a dog?

I forgot dogs don't live as long as cats. I've know a few older cats that got adopted. Often by old people who don't want to outlive their pet.

[TexasBushwhacker]

61. For a larger dog 10 is quite old

The bigger the dog, the shorter the lifespan. Medium size dogs like beagles live 12 to 15 years. Tiny dogs can make it to 20 years.

[Mariana]

56. Euthanasia is the most likely scenario.

This is a 10 year old. It isn't a cute little puppy or a young dog with many years to live.

[Aristus]

26. A question only tangentially related:

In a K-9 squad car, where does the dog go? Is there a kennel along the back seat? (And if so, where does an arrested suspect sit?) Up front in the passenger seat, "Chewbacca-style"? God forbid, in the trunk?

[csziggy]

32. The K-9 officer that lived down the road from us had a SUV from the Sheriff's Department

With cages in the rear area for the dogs. I never saw the inside but there could have been a barrier for the officer's safety between the front and back seats - and between the back seat and the rear area for the dogs' safety.

That officer trained most of the dogs for the local sheriff and the police department and had obstacle courses for the dogs set up at his property. He retired quite a few years back and I am not sure where the dogs are trained now.

[Flaleftist]

37. In the K-9 cars I have seen, the backseat is where the dog goes.

There is a barrier, just like in normal police cars. If a suspect needs to be arrested/transported, they just call another squad car. I'm sure that's seen as a perk by some, not having to transport suspects to jail and deal with whatever paperwork is involved.

[lilactime]

27. He should have been FIRED, not demoted.

[irisblue]

29. Fuck that cop & on further thought

Last edited Sat Dec 15, 2018, 01:22 PM - Edit history (1)

Carl Ellis is going to be keeping his job? Uh huh

}}how many complaints, for all causes, has this guy had?{{

[tonedevil]

30. It seems to me...

Officer Ellis should be dropped off at the shelter. If he doesn't get adopted in a few days he can be taken to the traditional nice farm upstate.

[appleannie1943]

33. Makes you wonder how much attention he got the first 10 years of his life.

Anyone that can just dump a dog at a shelter after being with it for that many years never gave a shit in the first place.

[catbyte]

35. He should've been fired. That dog went to work every day prepared to give his life.

What a colossal asshole. I hope everybody in that town shuns him, but good.

[WeekiWater]

39. Should have never been a police dog in the first place.

Things happened to that dog over the years that these officers would have never asked family to do.

That said, these are highly trained dogs as know one understands them better than their handlers or others trained in the field. It makes great sense to keep them with an expert after retirement.