JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Action News Jax is learning more about an off-duty K9 officer that was roaming Forest Blvd South on Saturday afternoon, Mar. 4, and later bit several people before being contained.
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ANJ spoke off-camera with one of the victims in this case off camera. He told us his attorney advised him not to speak on camera.
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He showed multiple dog bites on his hand and also his leg.
We also spoke with Hagan Van Hendrix, owner of Van Hendrix K-9 in Putnam County who specializes in working with K9′s, but is not connected with this case. He says this should have never happened.
“This is extremely unusual,” Van Hendrix said.
Hendrix says incidents where a trained K9 dog bites someone without any commands is very puzzling because of their training.
“The training is so thorough that dogs know better than that,” Van Hendrix said.
Related Story: JSO K9 escapes kennel, bites three people in Jacksonville neighborhood
According to a report that Action News Jax obtained from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office it reveals their officers responded to an animal bite incident on Forest Blvd South.
Initially, neighbors spotted what appeared to be a stray German Shepard. They believed the dog was friendly because they were able to put it on a leash.
The report states a short time later, one of the victims opened the door to his shed apartment, and that’s when the dog attacked.
Two other victims tried to stop the attack from happening, but then they were also attacked.
According to the report, one of the victims stabbed the dog in the neck with a knife and closed the shed apartment with the dog inside.
JSO later identified the dog as a police service dog with the department.
Joseph Harrison lives across the street from where this incident happened. He says they see stray dogs in the neighborhood, but they never bite anyone.
“It’s pretty quiet, but also if dogs are out here hungry we have to close our gates so they don’t come in the yard,” Harrison said.
Van Hendrix says even if these K9 dogs are without their handler they should still know better.
Related Story: JSO K9 will return to service after escaping, biting three people in Jacksonville neighborhood
“If a dog has a good understanding of humans they don’t randomly go out and bite people,” Van Hendrix said.
As far as the dog being stabbed, Van Hendrix says how the animal recovers emotionally is unknown.
“It’s like humans. we have different coping mechanisms. Dogs yes overcome trauma a little easier, but it needs to be carefully done,” Van Hendrix said.
Since the police dog was stabbed, Van Hendrix says the animal has to be rehabilitated before going back to work.
“The first thing I would be looking at is the bond between the handler and the dog. Once I have that pinned down then I would see where something went wrong in the training process,” Van Hendrix said.
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ANJ did reach out to JSO to see if the handler of this K9 is under investigation, but they have yet to hear back from them.
