Police officer abandons, neglects K-9
Greensburg, IN (US)Date: Jan 23, 2006
Disposition: Not Charged
Person of Interest: Dave Scudder
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Police officers often tout their relationships with K-9 partners as similar to that of any two law enforcement officials. Somewhere along the line, that relationship broke down for a local officer and his dog.
Details were released on Jan 23 regarding the suspension of a Greensburg Police Patrolman.
�Dave Scudder was suspended, earlier this month, for three days without pay for wanton or willful neglect in the performance of assigned duties or in the care, use or custody of any city property or equipment,� Police Chief Bill Meyerrose said Tuesday.
The charge sounds simple enough but the devil is in the details. The �property� Scudder, hired in December of 2001, is accused of neglecting was his K-9 partner Czar, a seven-year-old German shepherd.
�Dave realized he didn�t have time to focus on the needs of the dog and decided he no longer wanted to be a handler,� Meyerrose said. �He was still caring for him until we decided what to do with him.�
During this period Scudder moved from his home. He didn�t, however, bring Czar with him.
�One of our third shift officers knew Dave�s former home was vacant so he decided to check on it for security reasons,� Meyerrose explained. �The officer saw a light on in the garage and the door open. He looked inside and found the dog locked in his kennel. He had food and water but had been sitting in his own filth for days. I thought Dave felt strongly about the dog but he couldn�t have had too much emotion or he would have cleaned up after him.�
Until recently, Czar and Scudder made a good team together. Czar is trained to sniff out narcotics.
�Dave and the K-9 were very effective in the past,� Meyerrose said. �That�s what makes me all the more surprised by what happened. This was just so far out of Dave�s character.�
The incident is also far from how Meyerrose expects his K-9 officers to be treated.
�We care about these dogs,� he said. �This was an isolated incident and once we became aware of it we acted swiftly and took care of the problem. We were quick to rectify the situation and take care of the health of the dog.�
Monday, Czar was sold to the Marion County Sheriff�s Department for $2,000. The GPD paid $6,000 for the dog three years ago.
�He was healthy when he left here,� Meyerrose said. �We sold him for less because he probably only has two more years as an effective police dog.�
The GPD still has one K-9. Eric Blodgett is Zeb�s handler.
�Eric and Zeb are very aggressive in their duties,� Meyerrose said. �The K-9 is very eager to go to work and together the two make good partners.�
Despite the remaining team�s effectiveness, it may be a while before another K-9 is added to the Greensburg roster.
�The Czar incident hasn�t put me off on the K-9 program as a whole,� Meyerrose said. �But, if we ever do add another one we�ll be very select on who is to be the handler.� References« Back to Search Results
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