About 200 people gathered at the Department of Corrections’ Training Academy near Goochland to pay their respects to a five-year-old dog killed in the line of duty. Director Chadwick Dotson said canines were essential to prison safety in Virginia.
“They protect our correctional staff. They protect our inmate population. They deter aggressive inmate behavior,” he told mourners.
But People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals – a Virginia-based advocacy group – says it’s time to stop using dogs in this way.
“I’m absolutely sure that in 2024 we can keep our Department of Corrections safe without the use of canines and subjecting these animals to constant stress, constant noise, and to situations that are sometimes deemed too dangerous for humans, and – therefore – the dogs are sacrificed.”
Daphna Nachminovich says robots could do the same job without putting the lives of canines at risk, and she claims techniques used to train attack dogs are inhumane.
“We have seen how these animals are trained to become aggressive and dangerous to human beings," Nachminovich explains. "There have been many discussions about this even at the General Assembly of Virginia, but the welfare of the dogs has not yet been addressed.”
PETA and the Department of Corrections agreed, however, that those who had killed the dog should be prosecuted.
