The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune News Editor

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

A FORMER attorney general has joined the chorus condemning a correctional officer’s fatal shooting of a family dog, calling the incident a possible misuse of a firearm and a disproportionate use of force.

John Delaney, who was appointed to Cabinet by former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, said the widely circulated video of Friday’s shooting on Soldier Road raises serious concerns about judgment, restraint and accountability.

He also expressed alarm at prison officers walking the streets with their “guns drawn” during a parade.

“Based on the video circulated, regrettable to say, the service dogs demonstrated more socialisation, restraint and ability to assess threat than did the human handler (who shot the dog),” he said in a message shared with The Tribune. “If the officers perceived a real danger of attack by the dogs on property, they could have crossed the street. That would have displayed a sense of judgment and precaution. Presumably, they saw no need to do so.”

The BDCS Public Relations Dept also did itself a disservice in its characterisation of the dogs on property. The public saw the video recording of what transpired. One would think that the BDCS should not want its credibility left strained in the eyes of the public. They should now clean this up by properly and objectively investigating, and (as/if found appropriate) disciplining the officer who shot the dog, compensating the dog’s owner, making a public apology and other demonstrable showing of its self-professed “[valuing] of the lives of animals”.

The shooting occurred Friday on Soldier Road at the end of a funeral procession for a retired officer. Video widely shared online showed correctional officers walking with leashed service dogs past the property of veteran musician Duke Errol Strachan when two dogs on the property began barking and approached. One officer, with his handgun already drawn, discharged a single shot, killing the three-year-old dog.

Mr Delaney, in an interview with The Tribune, said he initially believed the video showed a training exercise.

“I was really impressed, and it was amazing the twist that things took,” he said. “The dogs maintained their steady nerves, they clearly were trained dogs, but the handlers lost it. It was the most surprising thing. There was no real sense of danger that the service dogs were about to be attacked.”

Some have criticised the owner for failing to secure the dogs.

Mr Delaney agreed to a point, saying: “There’s no question about it that responsible dog ownership requires that a dog owner should secure one’s dog to one’s property and the dog owner should have ensured that was the case. However, it is not clear to me that the dogs left the property or got to the street.”

He said the video showed the dogs behaving as expected.

“Based on what we can see on the video, the dogs were doing what we would expect a domestic dog to do, which is to be alert for the owner and bark at the appearance of any intruder.”

He added that there was no evidence in the footage that the dogs had left the property.

“For all I know, the owner was confident that his dogs are trained and socialised not to leave the property,” he said. “What is clear is that the overseers had choices they could have made that would not have resulted in the shooting of the dog. At a minimum, it was a disproportionate use of force.

“The service dogs were entirely disciplined. The public is reasonable to expect that the handler would also be trained and experienced.”

Mr Delaney also questioned the officers’ conduct in walking with firearms drawn.

He said: “Walking with guns drawn? How is it acceptable for these prison overseers to be walking in public on a parade with guns drawn? It is an ostentatious display of force that appears disproportionate to the situation that they were facing.”

He said officials should interview witnesses and the officers involved and make a judgment quickly.

The Bahamas Department of Correctional Services has described the incident as unfortunate and said officers involved would be interviewed as part of an investigation.

The Department of Agriculture said its Animal Control Unit has spoken with the dog’s owners and collected the animal.