After a couple of controversial animal shootings (one involving a deer, the other an elderly family dog), the Oakland Police are going to be getting a little training in animal behavior.
The program will be designed to help officers read animal behavior, dog instincts, and to be able to read property to determine if there is likely a dog on the property even if they cannot see the dog. By teaching the officers different signs of a dog's behavior, they hope that officers will better be able to determine if a dog is aggressive, or friendly, or frightened - and then will also work with them on more effective ways of using batons, pepper spray and catch poles to keep dogs at a safe distance.
"If you don't have that training about animals your first response is going to use what you know, and that's going to be to use force," East Bay SPCA Director Allison Lindquist said.
Police officers often come across protection dogs when they do things like drug busts and weapons busts. However, in many cases they also encounter dogs that are there simply to protect the family (which is often what the police are there to do too). Being able to judge the true, immediate threat of the situation can be the difference between a family mourning the loss of their family pet or not -- or, an officer being injured or not. Too often (in my opinion, and apparently in the opinion of the folks in Oakland) there is a bit too much of a tendency to shoot first.
There have been a lot of incidents nationally in the news about police officers unnecessarily shooting dogs - including a case in Columbia, MO last spring where a SWAT team shot a dog that was in its kennel. Some basic training in canine behavior signs will really help in keeping dogs, and officers safe.
So a tip of the hat to the Police Department in Oakland and the East Bay SPCA for running the training program. May your proactive attitude be a model for others to follow.