Fayetteville police dog handler under investigation for beating his dog

FAYETTEVILLE, NC — A Fayetteville police officer who was observed hitting his dog multiple times after a traffic stop is under investigation, Police Chief Kem Braden said.

The video posted on social media is about 12 seconds long and shows a Fayetteville police officer hitting his Belgian Shepherd at least three times. As the officer tries to lead the sniffer dog back to his patrol car, it looks like the dog shot him. He then grabs the sniffer dog by its muzzle and lifts it up.

It’s a little hard to see in the video, but police say the sniffer dog bit the officer. Police said the officer tried to punch the dog to get him to let go. Fayetteville police released a statement about the incident on Monday.

“The Fayetteville Police Department is aware of a video in circulation showing an interaction between a police canine and his dog,” the statement said. “This incident is being investigated by our internal affairs division.”

“We want to assure our community that we take the concerns seriously and are taking all necessary actions.”

WRAL News asked Shelly Dresser, a former Washington DC Police Department dog handler, if she was surprised that the officer hit the dog to get him loose.

“No, it could have been done differently,” Dresser said. “For example, if he had been wearing the right collar … he could have pulled it off, but in those circumstances your brain only reacts to what you need to do to protect your body and yourself.”

Dresser explained how her retired police dog named Mako was trained.

“He’s a biting dog,” Dresser said of Mako. “He’s trained to bring a suspect down and under control with a calm, collective bite.”

Braden asks anyone who witnessed the incident to contact his department at 910-433-1885.