Pc fined for hanging dog by leadA police officer has been fined £255 after he hung a police dog by its lead and forced it over a 5ft (1.5m) jump.
Pc Mark Edgar, 36, took his German shepherd Hax out on an obstacle course
while on duty at Weymouth police station in Dorset in April. When Hax refused to jump one obstacle Edgar lifted him up and suspended him using the lead as a hoist. Edgar admitted causing unnecessary suffering to the animal at Bournemouth Magistrates' Court. He was also ordered to pay a £15 victim's surcharge and £85 in costs, but was not banned from keeping animals.
Claire Toman, prosecuting, said the officer tried to get the dog to jump but Hax stopped and refused. She said: "At this point Pc Edgar used both his hands to lift and suspend Hax using the lead as a hoist." The dog was hanging off the ground for a short period of time before Edgar picked him up and lifted him over the jump. "It caused police dog Hax to land awkwardly on the other side of the wall," Ms Toman said. Edgar repeated this several times. However
he denied pinning the submissive animal to the ground with his knee and
body weight out of frustration that Hax would not jump.
Nerve damageThe dog was not injured but he needed two weeks of training to regain his confidence, the court heard. Dorset
Police referred the incident to the Independent Police Complaints
Commission (IPCC) and officers from the force's Professional Standards
Department carried out an investigation. Hax is now working within the force as a general police dog with a new handler and Edgar no longer works in the dog section. Sunyana
Sharma, defending, said Edgar was "simply attempting to coax him" over
the wall but that he admitted Hax's reluctance to jump was frustrating.
"He will no longer be able to be a dog handler or to train with dogs," she said. "He will not be able to be involved with something that he has enjoyed for a significant period of his life." Hex
was Edgar's second police dog.
The first had attacked him twice causing
nerve damage to his fingers and was deemed unsuitable for police dog
work, the court heard.
i'm not surprised either the first dog must of known he was a wrongun