Airport security dog shot by police in New Zealand

[Catherine]

A trainee airport security dog got lose at Auckland Airport in New Zealand at 4am. They were unable to catch him after several hours. His presence on the loose delayed many flights. Because there was so much money involved in delayed flights, the police were called in to kill the dog.


http://news.google.ca/news/url?sr=1&ct2=...t=2&at=dt0

They had no other choice, but to kill the dog? It is a dog. What could it possibly do....other than delay flights.

http://news.google.ca/news/url?sr=1&ct2=...t=2&at=dt0

People are very upset and so they should be. How could they not catch a dog? They were probably chasing him and scaring him. A calm person with a tasty snack could have lured the dog to them. It they had left him alone with his handler he might have been saved. Any other action would have been better than killing the dog.  They can't even pretend it wasn't done for financial reasons.

So Grizz the Airport Security Dog, who was training to work to make the airport a safer place, died because it was the most cost effective choice.

[LPC]

Yes, I saw this on the BBC News website; it has made headlines everywhere. I was going to post about it, but didn't have time. You beat me to it, Catherine.

This is a tragic case, where the arrival and departure of planes were deemed more important than waiting to find a tranquilliser gun from somewhere.

From the article:
"But there were no tranquiliser guns at the airport, and the police do not have them either."

Another strange thing: the article says that the airport "ordered" the police to shoot the dog. Surely, a civil airport cannot order the police to do anything?

[Catherine]

Quote:Another strange thing: the article says that the airport "ordered" the police to shoot the dog. Surely, a civil airport cannot order the police to do anything?

That is a good point.
Of course the police are standing behind the statement because they don't want to take the public outrage over the shooting.

The dog was harmless and in fact a specially trained dog. How could they not catch him? Also he wasn't on the runways so at least some flights could have gone out. It was cheaper and faster and easier to kill the dog. The dog was considered unimportant and his life, disposable. The sad fact that the dog was only there because he was part of airport security makes it worse.

Quote:Yes, I saw this on the BBC News website; it has made headlines everywhere. I was going to post about it, but didn't have time. You beat me to it, Catherine.

This is a first. I am time zone challenged and you get to stories before I even get up in the morning.

[Tobi]

Why didn't they delay outgoing traffic?  Retrieving this dog may only have taken a half hour if, like you suggested Catherine, someone had tried coercion involving treats, and a calm person who knew dogs!
Why didn't they put incoming flights into holding patterns? Understandably any incoming aircraft may be low on fuel, so there might have been limited times this could be done for with some flights. And it would have made more work for air traffic control.

Some info about holding patterns:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holding_(aeronautics)

Obviously some passengers may have missed connections. But that really isn't the end of the world is it? I have missed many train connections, arrived late, and am still alive and eating food!!

It is very sad. Poor dog.
Not all veterinarians would have a tranquiliser gun, but I am sorry more 'stops weren't pulled out' for this dog.
Bless him and I hope he is happy where he has gone. There he can really run free.

But nevertheless this is a very upsetting thing to happen. Yet another example of (some) humans putting their madcap schedules and plans and financial interests before things which really matter, and especially the welfare of animals.

[Catherine]

The dog got loose at 4am. Most airports don't allows arrivals and departures before 6am.  They certainly wouldn't have a lot of arrivals and departures at that time. They had a couple of hours before too many flights would have been interrupted. If they had worked in an orderly fashion they should have been able to catch the dog. They certainly had time to find a tranquilizer gun before the dog started causing delays.

He wasn't on the runways anyhow. Surely they could have cornered him in an area.
The airport uses dogs for security. Why didn't they have a plan in place to deal with this problem. Lack of planning and poor response to a problem resulted in the dog losing his life.

I think the other dog handlers should take their dogs away from the airport and stay away. This airport doesn't deserve the help of even one working dog.

[Tobi]

Right, I see. That makes it much worse. They didn't value the life of one of their security dogs. He was just a piece of equipment which malfunctioned for a very short time, so they shot him. I have one word for that but it's not one I can say here.
Blessings to that dog. He will probably not quite 'get' what he did wrong, but I hope his life on the other side will be with those who care about him, honour and love him.

[Catherine]

Quote:I have one word for that but it's not one I can say here.

I am pretty sure it is on the censorship list.

They shot one of their own security dogs. That makes it so much worse. They knew the dog was not dangerous. He just got scared and lost and confused. Usually working dogs are given more respect. In this case they gave in to financial pressure. The dog was costing them money. They were clearly unprepared to deal with an animal emergency. Since it was one of their own dogs it is hard to see it as a dangerous emergency. All they had to do was corner him or block things off so he couldn't get away again. They don't sound very competent.

I don't think they can justify their actions. They shot their own security dog. Maybe the dogs should go on strike. It is too bad they don't have a dog "union" or at least a person appointed to look out for the dog's interests.