More from another website, believe it or not, dogflu.ca ...
A man is under arrest after stabbing a Redondo Beach police dog on Monday. The police dog is expected to fully recover and return to duty rather quickly. The 2 1/2 year-old German shepherd had two big wounds to his neck and had to get surgery at a local emergency animal clinic.
Lt. Joe Hoffman stated that the dog was extremely lucky as they could have easily lost what he called was a "great police dog."
Police arrested Jimmie Divo Lunceford. The 39-year-old was quickly arrested following the attack. Sgt. Shawn Freeman stated "He was yelling at them," Freeman said. "He basically said, `You are going to watch a dead man in your driveway.' He was shouting, `Next time I am getting in there." "Lunceford would not listen or follow officers' commands to give himself up," Freeman said. "Lunceford yelled for officers to shoot him, telling officers that he wanted to die and told officers that he had a knife."
The Police Doggie in Question ... poor thing ...
... and from the Daily Breeze, more details. The doggie's name is Valor!!
"Rather than resort to deadly force, canine officer Valor was deployed to take him into custody for the safety of everyone involved," Freeman said. "As Valor approached, Lunceford produced a knife and was able to stab Valor." Hoffman described the weapon as a kitchen knife with an 8-inch blade.
Valor's handler, officer Ken Greenleaf, said his dog had done everything perfectly, running up the driveway and engaging the man. But he noticed the man make five uppercut moves toward the dog and realized he had a knife. "I can remember saying, `Don't shoot the suspect, it's a dog,"' Greenleaf said. "I reminded myself, `This is not a human. I'm not allowed to shoot him."' He called the dog off and, along with three other officers pointing their guns, ordered Lunceford to drop the knife. He complied.
Lunceford was arrested on suspicion of attacking a police dog, making threatening phone calls, making death threats, evading arrest and resisting arrest. He was held at the Redondo Beach jail on $50,000 bail. Greenleaf drove away with Valor, not realizing the dog was wounded. When Valor appeared lethargic, Greenleaf examined his neck and realized it was bleeding. Valor was immediately taken to an emergency clinic and underwent surgery to examine the wounds. One wound was about 2 inches long, the other 3 or 4inches. In surgery, the veterinarian determined the knife hit the scruff of the neck and failed to cause serious internal injuries. One wound was about a half-inch from the dog's jugular vein but the knife cut through only the first layer of fur and did not penetrate his throat. Greenleaf said it turned out that Lunceford had a previous injury to his hand that did not allow him to hold the knife tight enough to put any power behind it. The dog was released from the clinic Monday afternoon and returned to recover at Greenleaf's home. He could return to duty in about two weeks.
"He's doing good. He's kind of out of it," Greenleaf said. "He is sitting here looking at me with sad eyes." Three weeks ago, Valor and Greenleaf took the top prize in a police dog competition in Ventura. It was their second victory in a row.
Each dog team was rated for obedience, agility, searching, protection and narcotics detection. Redondo Beach police brought Valor onto the force after police dog Basko died in late 2005 as a result of eating cocaine during a certification exercise.
