Chad Larner, the training director of the K-9 Training Academy in Macon County, Illinois said in a recent interview that police departments throughout the state may have to euthanize drug dogs if marijuana is legalized. Larner said that it would be abusive to retrain the dogs and that it could even be impossible.
He also said that the dogs are trained to not be social because that is what the job requires.
According to The Pantagraph “, Because many K-9s are trained not to be social so their work won’t be affected, Larner said a number of dogs would likely have to be euthanized.”
Other police in the state seemed to have similar feelings on the subject.
Assistant Police Chief Steve Petrilli of the Normal Police Department said that it would be “impossible” to retrain the dogs. “At this point, they’re trained on five different odors. Once they’re programmed with that, you can’t just deprogram them. I think the implications of that would be huge,“ Petrilli said.
However, it is actually possible to retrain the K9s, as many police departments in Washington have shown.
Legalization activist Dan Linn of NORML thinks that the police are just making empty threats to scare the public.
“The idea that legalizing for adults to have an ounce on them will equal … all these dogs being euthanized, that seems kind of ridiculous and hyperbolic,” he said.
Macon County Sheriff Howard Buffett complained that this would make the dogs useless to the department, and would be a victory for drug dealers. “The biggest thing for law enforcement is, you’re going to have to replace all of your dogs. So to me, it’s a giant step forward for drug dealers, and it’s a giant step backward for law enforcements and the residents of the community,” Buffet said.
In 2016, Buffett’s personal foundation reportedly invested $2.2 million in training for K-9 units throughout 33 counties across Illinois.
It is strange that one of the excuses that they have for not wanting to retrain the K9s is that it would be abusive, but to train them to be vicious and keep them as attack dog slaves is extremely abusive in itself.
There are likely millions of dog owners, trainers, and rescuers who would be willing to show these animals a loving home so they can grow to be social again. The use of dogs in police business is inhumane both for the animals, and the suspects who they are often unleashed on.
Our society shuns animal abusers and people who raise dogs specifically for fighting, and rightfully so, but how are police dogs any different than an attack dog that a street gang breeds to be as aggressive as possible, for the purpose of winning money in dogfights and intimidating rivals?
In many cases, these animals are often treated as nothing more than disposable weapons by the police that are in charge of caring for them. In fact, it is sadly common for police officers to get accused of animal cruelty for abusing or neglecting their dogs.
Just this week The Free Thought Project reported that an officer was caught on video abusing his own search dog when the animal failed to signal for drugs at a traffic stop. It is also common for police to leave their dogs in hot cars for extended periods of time until they die.
One police officer in Georgia killed three of his dogs, one by leaving it in a hot car, and two others by shooting them. Officer Daniel Peabody of the Cherokee County Marshal’s Office, buried the first two dogs in his yard and was eventually caught when he killed the third.
When police dogs retire from official duty, they are supposed to return home and live with their handlers, but this is not always the case. In the state of Illinois where this controversy has happened, some officers reportedly dropped their dogs off at shelters after they were retired.
If any other organization was caught treating animals like this on such a regular basis and were admittedly raising them to be aggressive, there would be massive public outrage and calls of animal abuse, but the police are allowed to be abusers so situations like this are often overlooked or ignored.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY:
My name is John Vibes and I am an author and researcher who organizes a number of large events including the Free Your Mind Conference. I write for numerous alternative media websites, including The Free Thought Project @tftproject and The Mind Unleashed. In addition to my first book, Alchemy of the Timeless Renaissance, I have also co-authored three books with Derrick Broze @dbroze : The Conscious Resistance: Reflections on Anarchy and Spirituality, Finding Freedom in an Age of Confusion and Manifesto of the Free Humans
I just won a 3-year-long battle with cancer, and will be working to help others through my experience, if you wish to contribute to my medical bills, consider subscribing to my podcast on Patreon.
Don't legalize this substance! Or the animals that we abused will have to be abused more!
Maybe we should shoot the K-9 handler too? Because it would be hard, if not impossible to retrain them. They would probably continue trying to bust (or harass) people for cannabis decades later.
There is lots of people who want guard dogs. I hope this PR release gets made into a meme that embarrasses all who thought to state this tripe.
They will legalize but this is not the question: How did we get into this mess in the first place? When humans are enslaved by paper money resources are wasted and even animals abused and mistreated. Now, we pretty much are guaranteed to suffer that consequence of a poor decision taken years ago.
Yep, and the biggest task will be reprogramming people from the indoctrination.
To get to world peace, we will most likely have to wait until those who went to govern-cement school die off.
The financial collapse is nothing compared to the mental shit.
(i.e. misallocation of resources.)
Technology hasn't gone anywhere since the 70s.
When I was about 8 years old we got a former police dog as a pet. Super smart German shepherd, was not always nice to other dogs, but the best sidekick a kid could have back when life was lived outside. RIP Cody, thanks for being a good dog 🍖
This is just sad. People buy into this crap about having to put a dog down because they may be vicious. This is the government's way of trying to scare or guilt the American people into doing something yet again. I am a HUGE animal activist. I have donated lots of time, money and love to dogs in particular. I have fostered lots of dogs that are "aggressive". Usually, all a dog needs is our love. They say that these beautiful dogs will need to be put down because of one "drug"? What about the other " drugs"? Like meth, cocaine & heroin? Are those legal too? Didn't think so. So these animals still have a use. Don't let these people in the government control you by using this type of tactic.
As for the fact they abuse the dogs, I think every police officer that abuses a dog should be removed from the k9 unit. In my opinion, I really don't see a point for k9 units because they are training a dog to attack someone for having a drug. Yet punish other animals for doing the same thing. But that's a different conversation for a different day, these animals get abused when they don't find drugs that the officer wants them to find. I am disgusted by how these animals are treated.
I believe that for all the people who have been fighting for years against drug trafficking, it is like a stab wound in the back, after years of preparing to attack this flageolet, it sounds illogical that it is now legal, its arguments are totally valid, what sense would it make to leave these dogs alive trained against, I don't know how advanced this law is, but maybe they can look for a better solution for the canine personnel trained especially against drugs, maybe taking it to another state can help to keep these animals alive.
Forgive my mistakes in English, I use a translator
Exactly, just send these dogs to China... Marijuana probably won't be decriminalized here for another 50 years... Just put them on a plane and ship them across the Pacific... Like so many have pointed out, I'd say there's still a good 50% of the planet's land surfaces where dogs who can smell weed are actively sought after.
"Have to put down the dogs"... What a joke
They don't "have to" do anything. More accurately is "They choose to because ..." Thanks for the article John.
Oldest trick in the book.
"Don't use cannabis or else.... WE'LL HURT PUPPIES!"
Heck, I'll take a retired police dog. When I loose my stash, Fido can find it for me. Win, win.
Plenty of people want retired police dogs, the argument is utterly absurd.
This is just another example of prohibitionist bullshit. They can't win the argument so now they are holding their own animals hostage in the hope of tugging at the heartstrings of the population. Dogs can be retrained and they can be socialized. Anyone who says otherwise doesn't know about the animals to speak on the subject.
The authoritarians smell the end of the drug war coming and they are getting desperate. I expect to see more and more absurd claims like this coming as things continue to change.
I always what wondered what happened to those dogs who were intensively trained from birth when their 'duties' stopped.....
Ending prohibition will make bootleggers happy?
Cops hesitant to kill dogs?
What backwards-arse rubbish am I reading here?
Dang, that is a shame. This is the side effect of too much of something and governments getting in peoples business by not letting small communities manage their affairs. I mean why train all these dogs and send people to prison for something so little?! Answer: The governments want that dough, a piece of your dollar! "And now you know the rest of the story. Good Day. Paul Harvey"
I think some cops just get their jollies from killing dogs, so it would probably be more accurate to say "please legalize weed so we can kill our dogs for fun". There's no shortage of them doing just that on YouTube and laughing about it.
Funny how they don't "kill" the dogs who get to old to be police dogs anymore....you always see stories of officers who take retired dogs. They must think we are complete morons to fall for crap like this.
I never looked at the police that way. I don't like the government, but abusing dogs and treating them like disposable things. I heard stories about that, but never actually believe it. Guess it's true. I'm not even mad, but to see people treat animals like that and encourage others to do so, that is another feeling, but not anger.
There is a huge debate going on about whether to legalize Marijuana. Do the government intend to bring a law to legalize it?
More nonsense of the war on drugs.
This a new low for even them. That's supposed to be a joke to sell magazines but it sure does show how psycho these guys really are.
I love dogs ...and for years they have been of great impact in fighting crimes..I feel its only sad to let them go just like that ...but it left for the law to handle it...teamdog though
Awesome post
I suppose you’ve also got the police officers, prosecutors and prison guards that have been trained to go after marijuana users also. What can be done with them?? 😳
They, police, will have to find new jobs essentially, labor force transition time. The dogs could be used, possibly retrained for other uses. The cops can retrain and find other jobs. We are going to suffer for our poor choices. Does any one mean to say that we should not suffer the consequence of a bad decision? Does a drug addict get off Scott-free?
Good grief. In other news, John Boehner, who has been ardently opposed to MJ legalization in the past, just joined the board of a cannabis company.
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