DARLINGTON, SC (WBTW) – News13 investigates the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office dog that bit a random woman last weekend.
Darlington County deputies say the dog bit the woman because she ran even though deputies told her not to.The woman’s attorney says she’s still in the hospital and that the dog has a history of attacks.
We found out today the dog may not comply with state law.
The South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy says it has to approve dog training certifications.
The law says:
23-23-140. Patrol canine teams, certification.
(A) For purposes of this section, “patrol canine teams” refers to a certified officer and a specific patrol canine controlled by the handler working together in the performance of law enforcement or correctional duties. “Patrol canine teams” does not refer to canines used exclusively for tracking or specific detection.
(B) The South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy shall verify that patrol canine teams have been certified by a nationally recognized police dog association or similar organization.
(C) No law enforcement agency may utilize patrol canine teams after July 1, 2014, unless the patrol canine teams have met all certification requirements.
The academy says it doesn’t have one on file for the dog’s handler, Deputy Joshua Phillips.
The Sheriff’s Office says it’s looking into that requirement, but it also says the dog was certified by a nationally ranked agency and its certification is up to date.
For the last 30 years, Richard McDonald’s ,the Darlington County K9 Certification Maintenance Trainer and Owner Of Bay Creek Retrievers, trained thousands of dogs.
Whether its’s Marine Corp bomb dogs or Darlington County Sheriff’s Office K9’s.
“The principals are the same,” said McDonald. “Using their nose comes naturally to them. So you just teach them what you want them to smell.”
McDonald started working with the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office this year with the new administration. He helps the department maintain their certification. He says the K9 received certification in August.
“You have to always be training them,” said McDonald.
Lt. Robby Kilgo says when deputies began to look for a burglary suspect on Kingston drive last Saturday. The K9 named ‘Sky’ escaped the deputies car.
“As the deputy was getting out of the vehicle to survey what was going on at the burglary in progress. He was, unfortunately, able to slip out,” said Kilgo.
An incident report says the deputy told the K9 to come back several times. He also told people in the area not to run.
Deputies say the victim ran and the dog bit her.
“What defines us is how we handle this situation going forward,” said Kilgo.
The Sheriff’s Office says the K9 is not on active duty and an independent agency will evaluate the dog and make recommendations.
“What we need to do going forward with this K9 and give us there unbiased and honest opinion,” said Kilgo.
Both Kilgo and McDonald say the K9 had two incidents earlier this year where the K9 helped catch suspects.
“This K9 has been successful. So obviously something went wrong here. We have to figure out what it caused it and fix it,” said Kilgo.
“None of them are 100%. You will have times when they don’t do what they were trained to do but the good ones… the more training they have the less times they do what they are not supposed to do… it’s just an ongoing process,” said McDonald.
No word on when the results will be in for that evaluation.
