PHILIPSBURG--Safety and security company First Response has taken action against one of its dog handlers who physically assaulted one of the company’s K-9 dogs, which had responded to the scent of gunpowder on several police officers who had been passing the location where it is stationed recently.
When asked about the incident, First Response Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for St. Maarten and the Caribbean Christian Lont told The Daily Herald the officer had been immediately removed from the company’s K-9 unit and will no longer be handling any of the K-9s in the company.
Lont said that after an investigation into the incident, it was discovered that three police officers had been passing the location where the K-9 and its dog handler were stationed on Front Street late last week when the K-9 detected the scent of gunpowder on the officers. The certified K-9 was trained to detect the scent of gunpowder, amongst other things, and reacted to what it viewed as a threat. Lont said the K-9’s training kicked in and the animal began alerting its handler by barking at the police officers.
The K-9 got loose from the handler’s hand, went straight toward the police officers and stopped to indicate where the scent of the gunpowder was coming from. The handler panicked and, instead of giving the K-9 a voice command as he had been trained to do, he proceeded to beat the K-9 with a belt.
"Unfortunately, the handler did not pay attention at the K-9’s actions to ensure that the dog felt okay and that the situation was safe. We as the company took action against this employee for his neglect and abuse towards our K-9,” Lont said. “We are an organisation that is built on best practices and procedures with rules and regulations and we do not condone this type of behaviour.”
He said that, thankfully, the K-9 is okay and was not injured or hurt during the incident.
Lont said that as a dog lover, the incident broke his heart. “I am an animal lover as well and every one of our dogs, including the one that was involved in the incident, are like my kids and I love each and every one of them. They are truly amazing K-9 dogs that are very smart,” he said. “All of our K-9 dogs were trained in Holland to be in public places and around crowds of people.
“Our company’s policy is that no one is allowed to beat, hit or abuse the dogs. We use voice to give commands to the K-9. All the K-9 handlers are fully aware of this because our K-9 handlers are trained weekly, as it is mandatory, and all our K-9 dogs are fully certified by the Royal Dutch Police Dog Association KNPV [in Dutch: Koninklijke Nederlandse Politiehond Vereniging – Ed.] from Holland so there was no excuse for the handler to deal with the K-9 in that form.”
