may I suggest that before posting a comment, everyone google information they are not sure about? and at minimum read the article in full before making a comment! There is a lot out there specific to police dogs. Which by the way, isn't much different than what applies to citizen owned dogs.
Thank you to who posted the WI dog bite quarantine statues!!

The one issue everyone is forgetting is why did the Edgerton Police Department obtain this dog in the first place? Drugs In Our Schools!!! I have an 8th grader and know many others who know who smokes or drinks. If these kids know then why don't the adults know and find ways to address the problem.Its not O.K. for my child to drink or smoke. You as a parent might think its O.K., but its not. A dog that sniffs for drugs in school is what we need to do what little we can about the abuse of drugs in our youth today. I don't have all the answers, but please no drugs while in School. You might think its O.K. for your kid, but if I know your kid or you are supplying other kids, I will seak you out, I promise I will find you and you will pay the price.

Attack innocent people? Really? That's what it was trained to do?

i dont see this as a bad thing at all, the dog / and or trainer obviously need more training. the city of edgerton couldnt afford the liability. had the dog stayed and bit again im sure then the majority of edgerton would of wanted the dog put down. at least this way the dog still has a chance to thrive elsewhere.

Glad Ash is going back to get more training and hopefully will be placed with a handler that knows what he is doing. The K-9 program should only be allowed back into the EPD if and when they can get a handler that knows how to work with Dogs, especcially ones that are being trained to attack.

cvtdanelvr I agree with you all the way. I believe the dog was doing what it was trained to do.

What a shame, the dog was just doing what it was trained to do - protecting. Hopefully Ash gets further training and can better serve in the future.

Good riddance!!

Well, at least someone had enough sence not to just put the dog down. Hopefully Ash will get the training he needs and ends up with a handler that is a better fit for him. I do hope Edgerton continues with the K9 program.

I suspect that the insurance company told them that if they kept the dog, they were on their own. Folding on the dog does not look good for their liability case, but they were pretty much wide open on that from the start. If an attorney gets involved, they will sue the city, sue the police department, sue the police chief, and sue the trainers, all before breakfast. Good luck, you'll need it. And all for a boy and his dog.

Thank god. Finely edgerton makes a good choice. I do hope they are able to replace the dog with a much more well behaved one and one that isnt going to attack out of the blue. and I hope Ash gets more training and maybe put into a different program that would better fit his additude. at least now we wont have to worry about who the dog is going to attack next

I agree the EPD should not be making the decision on the K9. That is like asking a 1st grader to decide who their teacher will be. Maybe not a very good analogy, but another PD(with K9 experience) advising the EPD sounds about right.

This was the dog's second bite. Whatever the error, he has to be decommissioned. A Shepherd is usually an excellent companion OR work animal, but clearly there are exceptions. Although I'd be looking into the track record of this company's other animals.

Well, I agree that this is a handler error, but the dog still needs to be evaluated. The point I would make, my3kids, is that the EPD is not qualified to make that evaluation. Send this dog back and let some other agency decide whether they want a dog with an accidental bite history. Meanwhile, make this a learning experience for EPD's K9 program.
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I do question, as does Bubs, why the chief was designated as the K9 officer. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Maybe they can trade the dog for a helicopter and sent the chief to flight school.

Amyd: I agree with your entire post. For public relations purposes, this does make sense. Despite the fact that you and I both believe this to be handler error, it solidified opinions against Ash. The dog should NOT have been allowed off-leash. A K9 officer is NOT an ordinary house pet. Their training is NOT ordinary obedience training.

Trained dogs are more at fault, than the handler.. this dog my have socialization issues, training issues, or even just plain everyday issues.. who knows... remember the dog was trained somewhere else, not here in Edgerton, but in some other environment..... Sure the Chief made a poor judgement call, but I would have done the same thing, My dog ( a Shepard Mix) has never been in a "Muzzle", never bit any one, or never attacked anyone... Tom (Klubertanz) probably had just as much training as any other dog owner ( for this type of dog). Ash may have been traumatized by something we don't know about. I just hope they (The City) can come to some kind of agreement with the training facility. Adding a resource such as this ( a Dog) to a growing Drug issue, will not only help with the present, but it can help in the future.. I Hope it is not a Mute Subject in the future..

Based on my (admittedly limited) understanding of the situation, this was the right choice.

I think EPD having a K-9 unit is pretty good idea, but it needs to be handled differently from the get go. The chief, a heavily administrative position, should not have the dog. His handling of the dog and this situation in general doesn't inspire a lot of confidence.

If Edgerton chooses to continue with the program, hopefully they will learn from the events that lead to this decision.

There's still the potential lawsuit...

Well there we have it! It might be the best decision but I still think this was a handling error.