In the wake of K-9 death, tram to raise money for new police dog facility (new Mexico)

The Albuquerque Journal ^ | June 6, 2025 | Gillian Barkhurst / Journal Staff Writer

[CedarDave]

Sandia Peak Tram partnered with the city and Albuquerque Police Department to raise money for a K-9 training facility dedicated to Rebel, a police dog shot and killed by officers during an armed confrontation with a suspect last week.

Starting Monday, the tram will donate $1 from each ticket sold to APD’s K-9 Unit, Sandia Peak Tramway President Ben Abruzzo announced at a Friday news conference. The “Rides for Rebel” fundraiser will end June 29.

The facility will be named for Rebel, an 8-year-old Belgian Malinois who was shot in the face by officers during a confrontation with Jorge Dominguez on May 29. Officers said Dominguez, 39, was armed with a loaded gun.

“It turns out that it was a situation of friendly fire, and that happens sometimes,” Mayor Tim Keller said during the news conference.

Rebel was the first police dog killed in the line of duty in the K-9 Unit’s history. Dominguez’s death marked the fifth fatal police shooting this year.

The facility will include obstacle courses and tunnels designed to acclimate animals to scenarios they’ll face in the field, Medina said. The city plans to build the training facility next to the Daniel Webster Park in the Northeast Heights, Keller said.

The K-9 Unit currently has five service dogs, though APD will begin the search for a new police dog once Rebel’s handler, Chris Brito, has time to mourn, Medina said.

“Our canines are there to preserve human life, and difficult decisions to deploy them are made each and every day,” Medina said. “There are many times I had to make the decision to deploy a dog, which put that dog in harm’s way. And it is very difficult for the general public at times to understand.”

[CedarDave]

Dominguez, who was armed with a loaded gun, was killed in the encounter. According to police he had "an extensive criminal history."

Court records show Dominguez had been arrested several times over the past decade and was on parole after serving time in prison for a road rage shooting. Dominguez had two warrants out for his arrest when he was killed, one from a DWI arrest in February and another for auto theft and resisting, evading or obstructing an officer from an incident Tuesday.

[CedarDave]

Enough for tonight!

NM list PING!

I may not PING for all New Mexico articles. To see New Mexico articles by topic click here: New Mexico Topics

To see NM articles by keyword, click here: New Mexico Keywords

To see the NM Message Page, click here: New Mexico Messages

(The NM list is available on my FR homepage for FR member use; its use in the News Forum should not be for trivial or inconsequential posts. Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)
(For ABQ Journal articles requiring a subscription, you may be allowed a number of free article views.)

[CondoleezzaProtege]

😔

Well maybe if Keller actually did something meaningful to address the chaos, precious dogs wouldn’t be sacrificed like this in the line of duty in the 1st place. 😠

[algore]

[KarlInOhio]

Sounds like the Albuquerque police need the training facility more than the dogs.

Also does it make sense for the city to have a dog training facility for only five dogs? Considering the useful career of a dog, that might mean one new dog per year. It seems like it would make more sense to just have one training facility for the year.

[CedarDave]

To make the excerpt cut, I had to leave out the following paragraph:

Once in operation, the facility will be open to all law enforcement with service dogs, including the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office, Medina said.

A half dozen cities and counties surround ABQ that could use the facility plus the NM State Police if they don’t have one of their own.