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December 12, 2023
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Brittney Williams 202-483-7382
Shaker Heights, Ohio – Final night time, PETA despatched a letter to the Shaker Heights Police Division leader of police, Wayne D. Hudson, inquiring for that he in an instant retire and switch everlasting custody of Ok-9 Igor to former officer Chad Hagan, the canine’s spouse and dependable better half for greater than 5 years. Hagan’s request to stay Igor—who has lived with Hagan and his circle of relatives for many of his existence—was once denied on Thanksgiving, even after he introduced to pay the town greater than $10,000 to hide the price of changing Igor.
Within the letter, PETA slams the police division’s statement that 6-year-old Igor might be saved on accountability for as much as two extra years, noting that the German shepherd—who has it sounds as if been confined to a kennel facility since final month—is already drawing near the age when large-breed Ok-9s will have to be retired.
Igor. Credit score: Shaker Heights Police Division Fb web page
“Igor is locked in a kennel, certainly scared and at a loss for words, when he will have to be taking part in a relaxed retirement with the loving circle of relatives he’s been facet through facet with for many of his existence,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA is urging the Shaker Heights Police Division to not be a grinch this Christmas and to let Igor cross house to his circle of relatives.”
PETA—whose motto reads, partially, that “animals aren’t ours to abuse in anyway”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more info, please seek advice from PETA.org, pay attention to The PETA Podcast, or apply the gang on X (previously Twitter), Fb, or Instagram.
PETA’s letter to Hudson follows.
December 11, 2023
Wayne D. Hudson
Leader of Police
Shaker Heights Police Division
Expensive Leader Hudson:
I’m hoping this message unearths you neatly. I’m writing on behalf of Other folks for the Moral Remedy of Animals (PETA) and our just about 191,000 contributors and supporters in Ohio to induce you to in an instant retire and switch everlasting custody of Ok-9 Igor to former Shaker Heights police officer Chad Hagan, who was once his handler for greater than 5 years, and has introduced to pay the town $10,000 to assist offset the price of changing him.
In step with information reviews, Igor has been a part of Hagan’s circle of relatives for the reason that two had been partnered in combination when the canine was once just a 12 months outdated. They’ve infrequently spent any time aside during the last 5 years (greater than part the everyday existence expectancy of a German shepherd), forging a formidable bond that indisputably made them an effective group on accountability and inseparable partners off accountability. Surprising separation and kenneling would make sure to reason important misery to Igor. Research have proven that the human-animal bond is a very powerful to a running canine’s good fortune and that prime ranges of tension and nervousness impair an animal’s talent to accomplish as anticipated. Regardless of the town’s statement that Igor may most likely proceed running for a minimum of two extra years, the canine is already drawing near the age when large-breed Ok-9s will have to be retired. It’s in the most productive pursuits of the group for Igor to be retired and stay with the Hagan circle of relatives.
Moreover, despite the fact that the authentic remark launched through the town cites Shaker Heights municipal code as combating the company from promoting Igor to Hagan, the town actually maintains discretion to switch felony custody of the animal. Code phase 141.07 is inapplicable to the sale of a canine who isn’t retired, injured, disabled, or too outdated for accountability, and the exception in subsection (c) handiest revokes the handler’s proper to buy the animal however doesn’t restrict the town from promoting him. Subsequently, whether or not the police division chooses to retire Igor or claims that he’s “nonetheless are compatible for accountability,” the town maintains discretion to promote or in a different way free up the canine to Hagan.
Maximum information reviews about police canines spotlight the unpleasant facet of the trade, together with the cruelty of old-fashioned coaching strategies and the struggling and deaths persisted within the line of accountability, incidents that erode a group’s agree with in legislation enforcement. We are hoping you’ll take this chance to do the suitable factor.
Thanks to your attention.
Maximum respectfully,
Allison Fandl
Supervisor, Cruelty Investigations Division