The North Carolina Highway Patrol is starting from scratch when it comes to its canine unit. The department is getting rid of all its German Sheppard Malinois dogs and going with a new breed.

The state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety issued a statement Monday that said the highway patrol will now begin an effort to rebuild the program that it says is important for finding and stopping drug operations.

This action follows recent controversy involving the treatment of a service animal by a highway patrol trooper. The treatment, which was reported by another officer, was captured on video tape and resulted in the dismissal of trooper Charles Jones. In the video, Jones was seen punching and kicking the dog.

"It definitely played a role into reviewing the policy, because it showed definicies in the program that we didn't know we had," said Highway Patrol Spokesman Capt. Everett Clendenin.

Jones was fired after the videotape surfaced last August. The state personnel commission later reinstated him back to the force. The Highway Patrol is appealing that decision.

But Clendenin said the review of the K-9 also found that most incidents involving canine action involve narcotics.

"We saw that we weren't using them for tracking suspects and we weren't using them for attack situations or protections, [but] that we were using them for narcotic sniffs," he said.

The highway patrol will discontinue the use of aggressive canines. A new handler will bring six Labrador Retrievers in to serve as the new law enforcement dog. The current dogs will be retired and the department will find homes for them.

Clendenin because the Highway Patrol isn't chasing and tracking suspects, a more passive dog will work.

A handler has been chosen but Highway Patrol doesn't know where the new retrievers will come from yet.

The new policy also says the Highway Patrol canine policy will specifically prohibit any mistreatment of canines.

Mondy Lamb with SPCA of Wake County said she agrees with the change, but would also like to see a more clear definition of the word "mistreatment." She said the state needs to revamp its regulations on animal cruelty to keep what happened to Ricoh from happening again.

"Be it a Belgium Malinois or a Labrador Retriever, they are both great dogs, but the important thing to remember is we have to stop what happened to Ricoh from happening to any more dogs in the future," Lamb said. "It not only has to become a fire-able offense, it has to become a legal one too."

The full list of proposed changes:

• Discontinue use of aggressive canines and change the mission from multi-tasked canines to canines trained only in narcotics detection.

• Selected a new canine training supervisor who has successfully completed the United States Customs and Border Protection Instructor Canine Training Class.

• Use passive alert canines as the Highway Patrol's police work dog; more specifically Labrador Retrievers. Labradors by nature are non-aggressive canines and have a well respected reputation as excellent narcotics detection canines.

• The new program will be staffed with newly selected and trained canine handlers.

• The new Highway Patrol Canine Policy expressly prohibits any mistreatment of canines.

• The Highway Patrol will adopt the United States Customs and Border Protection Canine Program curriculum and training techniques to train and certify all Highway Patrol canine handlers.

"We are in the process of restructuring and rebuilding our canine program," said Patrol Commander Col. Walter J. Wilson, Jr. in a written statement. "I'm confident that once these changes are implemented we will have one of the best canine programs in the nation."

Related Links

1. North Carolina Highway Patrol
2. SPCA of Wake County