Idaho Officer Investigated in Fatal Shooting of Dog

IDAHO -- The police shooting of Filer resident Rick Clubb’s dog that was running at large Saturday stunned people locally and across the nation — including officers in a nearby jurisdiction.

Many are asking how this tragic event could have happened. Was officer Tarek Hassani trained in animal control before he encountered the barking black Labrador named “Hooch” outside a 9-year-old boy’s birthday party?

Maybe not, said Rory Olsen, deputy division administrator for Idaho Peace Officer Standards and Training.

Idaho’s police academy teaches only the basics, Olsen said Wednesday in a telephone interview from his office in Boise.

“We don’t do any training whatsoever on animals. None,” he said. “That training is left up to individual police departments.

“There are too many scenarios that could play out” with animals, Olsen said, recalling his own encounters with moose, deer, opossum and dogs while in law enforcement in Pocatello.

The Filer Police Department has no dedicated animal-control officer, said Chief Timothy Reeves. However, he said, Filer officers do receive training in animal control. He declined to say what kind of training or from whom.

Elsewhere in Twin Falls County, Twin Falls Police Capt. Matt Hicks said his department’s policy addresses animal control. Officers are instructed to have a backup plan when encountering animals, especially dogs, so that the use of deadly force can be avoided.

The video captured by Hassani’s dashboard-mounted camera sent a shock wave through the Twin Falls Police Department, Hicks said.

“While this shooting is under investigation, we are asking our own officers to review our procedures and to reflect on how we would react” in Hassani’s shoes, he said.

Towns in the Magic Valley handle animal control in differing ways, depending on their budgets.

Twin Falls police started an animal control program two years ago; before that, officers handled dog issues themselves, Hicks said. When hired two years ago, the city’s animal-control officers rode along with Twin Falls County Sheriff’s animal control to get a feel for the job, he said.

Shoshonie Heitmann, Kimberly city clerk, said that town has a full-time community service officer responsible for ordinance enforcement and animal control.

Hansen, a small town a few miles down the road from Kimberly, has a code-enforcement and animal-control officer who works about 40 hours each month, said Linda Morrill, city clerk.

Buhl, like Filer, has no animal control officer.

Twin Falls County offered its animal control services to the city of Filer, said Sheriff Tom Carter, but Filer turned down the offer because of lack of funding.

While the city of Filer struggles with the aftermath of the dog’s shooting, it has turned the matter over to its insurance company, Idaho Counties Risk Management Program (ICRMP).

ICRMP clients are public entities from the county level down, including cities, fire districts and public libraries, that form an insurance pool. Clients are insured by ICRMP and receive legal representation as part of their liability suits, said ICRMP spokesman Carl Ericson.




ICRMP advised Filer city staff to make no comments about the shooting while the incident is being investigated, Ericson said.

The city also chose an independent party to investigate the shooting, but “the agency that will be conducting the investigation has asked that its identity not be disclosed at this time,” City Attorney Fritz Wonderlich said Wednesday.

Wonderlich also refused the Times-News’ request for an interview with Hassani, who has been placed on administrative leave during the investigation.

Meanwhile, Clubb is looking for a replacement for Hooch. Clubb, who has Parkinson’s disease and is disabled, said Hooch was his service dog.

Clubb said he buried his dog outside the Filer city limits.

(Magic Valley - Feb 12, 2014)