Post by WaTcHeR on Feb 2, 2006 0:46:37 GMT -5
02/01/2006 - NEW ALBANY, Ind. -- A police dog brought into a classroom for a demonstration of its drug-sniffing skills bit a sixth-grader in the face as she and classmates were petting it.
The girl, whose name was not released, was not seriously injured in Monday's attack, but a school nurse cleaned her wound and she was treated at a hospital and released.
Dave Rarick, a spokesman for the New Albany-Floyd County school system, said the dog apparently became "spooked" during the classroom demonstration at Hazelwood Middle School.
New Albany Police Chief Merle Harl said when the students were leaving, one child asked to pet the dog. The officer who handles the dog said the student could. But then a group of children ran at the dog, which bit the girl.
"It was not the dog's fault ... I guess the dog got scared, and if not scared, at least uncomfortable," Harl said.
New Albany police frequently work with school resource officers to provide demonstrations that show students how police are fighting drug use.
"We've had these dogs in a lot of our schools and have never had something like this happen," Rarick said.
The dog in the future will be kept away from children, and the accident was a result of "handler error," Harl said. The officer handling the dog might get a written reprimand, Harl said.
Rarick stressed that the dog involved in Monday's attack was not searching for drugs, as police do periodically at various schools in the southeastern Indiana district.
"We never let children around the dogs when we are actually searching," Rarick said.
The girl, whose name was not released, was not seriously injured in Monday's attack, but a school nurse cleaned her wound and she was treated at a hospital and released.
Dave Rarick, a spokesman for the New Albany-Floyd County school system, said the dog apparently became "spooked" during the classroom demonstration at Hazelwood Middle School.
New Albany Police Chief Merle Harl said when the students were leaving, one child asked to pet the dog. The officer who handles the dog said the student could. But then a group of children ran at the dog, which bit the girl.
"It was not the dog's fault ... I guess the dog got scared, and if not scared, at least uncomfortable," Harl said.
New Albany police frequently work with school resource officers to provide demonstrations that show students how police are fighting drug use.
"We've had these dogs in a lot of our schools and have never had something like this happen," Rarick said.
The dog in the future will be kept away from children, and the accident was a result of "handler error," Harl said. The officer handling the dog might get a written reprimand, Harl said.
Rarick stressed that the dog involved in Monday's attack was not searching for drugs, as police do periodically at various schools in the southeastern Indiana district.
"We never let children around the dogs when we are actually searching," Rarick said.