North Idaho Officer to Get Dog Encounter Training
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) — Coeur d'Alene police officers in northern Idaho will be required to watch a series of training videos on dog encounters following the fatal shooting of a Colorado man's dog that sparked outrage.
Coeur d'Alene Police Chief Ron Clark tells The Spokesman-Review that the training could help reduce lethal incidents without compromising safety. Police on July 9 put out a statement that an officer responding to a report of a suspicious van had shot and killed a "vicious pit bull" that lunged for the officer's face from inside the vehicle.
The dog turned out to be a 2-year-old black Labrador mix named Arfee. Clark has apologized to the dog's owner, a former Coeur d'Alene resident now living in Colorado.