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| Nogales Police K-9 Unit |
ARIZONA -- Southern Arizona authorities are investigating why a police dog attacked a 15-year-old student outside of Nogales High School while the dog's handler and two other officers were inside a classroom conducting a presentation on gun safety.
Students ran into the classroom last Thursday afternoon to alert officers about the attack.
Nogales Police Department Capt. Heriberto Zuniga said the dog's handler immediately ran out to retrieve the German shepherd, which had backed off after the teen was on the ground.
"We were extremely lucky," Zuniga said. "The dog is trained to bite and pull. That didn't happen. It appears in this case the dog realized the girl did not pose a threat."
Principal Judith Mendoza-Jimenez said the teen was OK.
"It was an isolated incident. (The dog) got out of the car," she said. "We don't know how. The girl saw the dog coming and she started running so the dog attacked her. Once she was on the ground the dog let her go."
The girl was treated for bites on her arms and scratches on her lower back.
Zuniga said he believes somebody opened the door allowing the dog out of a vehicle parked about 10 feet to 15 feet away from the classroom.
So far, nobody is confessing to having opened the door, "but we're hoping that through interviews, the investigators will get some leads," Zuniga said. "You know there are warning decals all over the vehicle."
Mendoza-Jimenez said that precautions are always taken when a K-9 unit is brought on campus. "I just hope this does not affect the relationship with the Nogales Police Department and Nogales High School," she said.
The Nogales International reports the attack is under investigation by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office.
Santa Cruz Animal Care and Control took a report of the incident but did not quarantine the animal. "As a working dog, it has all the background documents of its care and proof of vaccinations," Zuniga said.
(Arizona Daily Sun - December 6, 2011)
