Sacramento Business Daily

What is the main responsibility of a Canine law enforcement officer?

I am doing a project for 4-H dog club and I need to know the main responsibility of a canine law enforcement officer. I would also like to know what the difference is between that and a animal control officer.

Public Comments

1. To try, in the face of all opposition and incredible lack of funding, enforce the sometimes well-written, but generally horribly contrived, animal "welfare" laws in the region. To attempt to reason with people who think what they are doing to their dog isn't abuse. To make the decision which dog lives and which dog dies that day. To go back again and again to the same people to remove animals from their care since the courts don't seem to understand that people who abuse and neglect animals should be jailed. Oh, and to do paperwork.
2. Do you mean a K-9 Police officer? Who goes about his day working in law enforcement with a K-9 partner??? This would be a police officer who works a normal shift, and is called in on special cases for finding fleeing suspects, narcotics, bombs, or whatever else the canine's specialty is. An animal control officer responds to cases of loose dogs, snakes, etc and handles wildlife as well... Not a law enforcement officer.
3. An animal control officer may be an employee of, or a contractor to, a municipality, is charged with the responsibility of responding to calls for service ranging from stray animals to investigations of cruelty to animals and dog fighting, and bringing them to a compound or animal shelter, where the animals are held for a certain time before being returned to their owners, put up for adoption, released back into the wild, or euthanized. Animal control departments are also responsible for investigating incidents of human contact with both wild and domestic animals, such as bites. They may work with Health Departments, police departments, sheriffs departments or parks and recreation departments. From what I hear, Canine Law Enforcement Officers are the ones who work with police dogs, and train them.
4. K-9 officers detect and apprehend, with the use of a K-9 criminal suspects who otherwise refuse to cooperate. If the dog is dual purpose trained they may also be called upon to do narcotics or explosives detection. Studies show that K-9 officers have the highest probability of getting shot out of all other divisions within a police agency. I have never been a dog catcher, so you will forgive me if I have no idea what they do. Hope I helped.