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Full Version: Retired police dog abandoned at animal shelter
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After his canine companion and fellow police officer retired, police officer Carl Ellis  abandoned Ringo at an animal shelter.  All the years that Ringo served with him and the successes they had, Ellis still turned his back on his dog once he was too old to serve.

Two pieces of good news. Ringo's trainer has rescued him from the shelter and Ellis has been demoted.

au.news.yahoo.com/cop-demoted-abandoning-retired-police-dog-shelter-224812852.html

I understood that police officers who work with dogs regard them as partners and have a deep bond of trust with their dogs. 
How could a police officer abandon his partner like that. At his age Ringo was unlikely to be adopted and could have spent the rest of his life in a cage at the shelter.

I think police departments should pay more attention to the care their dogs receive and should definitely check on their retired dogs. Maybe they should reassess their screening of candidates to work with dogs. Ellis clearly had no feelings for Ringo if he could work with him for almost ten years and not care what happens to him. Good thing the trainer cared and was able to spot Ringo at the shelter.
What a sad and heartless thing to do to a good friend and working partner. Ringo would feel what had happened; that he'd been abandoned by someone he loved and trusted. They do know.
Thank goodness the trainer noticed him.

When I think of many soldiers who have worked so hard to adopt and ship their military partners from places like Afghanistan, I am shocked that the police officer could do that to Ringo.
There may have been a family situation, where an ex-working dog like Ringo could not have adapted to children in a house (for example), but the officer could have made an effort to find a happy home for him! He would have had plenty of warning that Ringo's retirement was coming!
I agree, if the officer really couldn't keep Ringo he should have placed him in a loving home. I am sure other police officers would have been glad to help a retired police dog. He knew retirement would come when he started working with Ringo. He shouldn't have worked with a dog at all if he wasn't prepared to do right by the dog.

Ringo was a clever, trained dog. He would have known he was being abandoned at a shelter. Animals understand what is going on. The recognize rejection and abandonment when they see it.

The trainer  made it right, but that was just chance. The fate of a retired police dog should not depend on chance. If police departments are going to work with dogs they need to develop a retirement policy for the dogs.

You are right, soldiers fight to take their dogs home and sometimes it is not easy. They never give up until they have their dog at home with them.  
Shame on the police officer for ailing to do what is so very easy. All he had to do was give an old dog a home for its few remaining years.