Wolf dog as prison guard?

-bogart-

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#1
Okay , i am torn on this article.

A state judge granted a reprieve Tuesday to a wolf dog hybrid he ordered destroyed for aggressive behavior, instead “sentencing†the animal to serve a life term as a guard dog in the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

Judge James Best of 18th Judicial District Court signed an order releasing custody of Chief to the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections at the request of prison officials who want to use the animal as a guard dog at Angola.

Area residents testified in Best’s courtroom last month that Chief would frequently escape from his owners’ property and terrorize them. After hearing from the witnesses, Best ordered Chief — of British Colombia wolf and German shepherd ancestry — to be euthanized.

A Pointe Coupee Parish animal control ordinance states that all dogs must be confined to an owner’s property, or secured on a leash when they are not.

Best said shortly after his ruling that he was contacted by Angola Warden Burl Cain, who wanted to take Chief into custody for guard dog service at the state’s 18,000-acre maximum security prison.

“When we saw this dog in the paper, we thought it would be a shame to euthanize (it),†Deputy Warden Bruce Dodd said.

According to the memorandum of understanding Best signed Tuesday, the state prison has developed a program in which hybrid dogs such as Chief are deployed at night within perimeter fencing encircling the prison’s individual camps.

Dodd said the program, which also makes use of surveillance cameras, has helped secure the prison following personnel layoffs related to recent budget cuts.

“We actually breed wolf hybrids here and raise them,†Dodd said.

Dodd said Chief’s aggressive behavior would make him a perfect fit among the dozen or more wolf dog hybrids already on duty at the prison.

“That’s the purpose of them,†Dodd said. “We don’t want them to be vicious killers, but to be aggressive. They become a security measure.â€

Although elated that Chief won’t be put to death now, the dog’s previous owner, Vicky Smith, said she doubts Chief would do well in his new surroundings.

Smith said she purchased the wolf dog as a 5-week-old puppy for her son, who raised and cared for him since then.

“He’s not going to do well without us,†she said of Chief. “We’re his family. I think he’s going to be really, really stressed. We keep him inside our air-conditioned home. I feed him oatmeal for breakfast. You think they’re going to feed him that?â€

According to the understanding between Angola and the court, all of the prison’s dogs are “well kept and given top veterinarian care.â€

Despite witness testimony, Smith said, Chief is harmless and has never “bit or hurt anyone.â€

“It’s not right what they’re doing,†she said. “I was going to sell my house and move out of the parish to keep my dog. I want my dog back, but once he goes to Angola I don’t think I’ll get him.â€

Parish officials said Chief would be taken to Angola on Wednesday.

Dodd said the dog will spend some time training with a handler before going on patrol.

“I’m just glad for the dog,†Best said Tuesday afternoon after signing the order. “It’s a beautiful ending and the community got some relief. The dog is going to provide good service and be well taken cared of.â€
http://theadvocate.com/news/2720715-123/wolf-dog-to-patrol-angola


the comment from texasblessing , is all the things that ran through my head when i read the article also.

how do you feel?
 

GoingNowhere

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#2
What happens should a prisoner attempt to escape and end up mauled to death? Not saying it'll happen, but what then?

I understand the thought (i.e. that it'll be a deterrent), just not sure if it's a good one in practice.
 

Xandra

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#3
I don't really have a problem with it other than I question its usefulness if it actually need to apprehend or protect.
 

FG167

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#5
I want to know what "aggressive behavior" it did to get sent to this "job". Especially since the owner was willing to move to keep him.
 

-bogart-

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i am appalled that the prison is breeding animals .

they breed mutt horses and now dogs. i dont get it.


as to the owner , it is a 17 yr old boy.
this is a train wreck.
 

stardogs

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#8
The idea of breeding prison guard wolf hybrids skeeves me out enough, but to confiscate a dog from its owner who sounds like they want to work to keep it, all to put the dog in such a radically different setting sounds worse than death to me. :(
 

Xandra

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#9
I question if it's really part wolf :p
:rofl1: yeah that too

Honestly if your wolf hybrid frequently gets out and your neighbors feel terrorized by it that's about the point where the state should intervene, if it's going to intervene at all. Perhaps I'd feel differently if she had no idea but I'm going to assume since it happened often and multiple people were upset by it that someone brought it to her attention and she didn't correct the situation.

I doubt moving out of the parish would fix anything, it isn't like rural people enjoy roaming aggressive dogs either. I'm all for owning any dog you want but you have to keep it from upsetting other people, otherwise you reap what you sow. In urban places AC takes your dog and in rural places without AC they shoot it.

I'm not particularly sympathetic to her cause, but I do hope the dog adjusts well and is useful to the prison.
 

Gempress

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#10
I've owned a wolfdog, and this program has a tons of holes. Yes, there are aggressive wolfdogs. But to my knowledge, wolfdogs are far more likely to become wary fear-biters, not truly aggressive. I can't see a dog like that being a good guard.

From the wording of the article, it looks like the dogs are kept caged in the day and given free roam between the fences at night. Honestly, if that's the route the prison wants to go, I'd go with a genuine animal deterrent. Heck, turn loose a pride of lions during the night and call it done. They'd probably be far more effective than any wolfdog, if only psychologically.

ETA: What about alligators? It's Louisiana, surely there are plenty of those around!
 

Snark

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#11
From the wording of the article, it looks like the dogs are kept caged in the day and given free roam between the fences at night. Honestly, if that's the route the prison wants to go, I'd go with a genuine animal deterrent. Heck, turn loose a pride of lions during the night and call it done. They'd probably be far more effective than any wolfdog, if only psychologically.

ETA: What about alligators? It's Louisiana, surely there are plenty of those around!
Heck, put a flock of nasty-tempered geese out there - no one would be able to sneak through.
 

TainaPR

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#12
So many breeds already out there bred specifically as guard dogs, dogs who can have predictable temperments and they want to breed unpredictable hybrids? Wow can this be any more stupid/irrational??
 

-bogart-

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#14
Isn't Angola the prison that has the Fila breeding program as well?
WHAT>?>???? i never have heard of that one either.

I know they have a rodeo and a golf course , nothing metioned on there website about dog breeding though.

how do i not know this ? I am going to google and see what i can dig up.


http://doc.louisiana.gov/LSP/

is there website.

I want to go play golf there , and plan on going to the rodeo this year .
 

Miakoda

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i am appalled that the prison is breeding animals .

they breed mutt horses and now dogs. i dont get it.


as to the owner , it is a 17 yr old boy.
this is a train wreck.
The prison also breeds some of the finest Bloodhounds around, and also has some Filas as well.

I got to meet some of the bloodhounds, and got an amazing view (from about 20 yards away) of 2 Filas, while I was there for a field trip my senior year of highschool. From my understanding, those dogs have some very high-level training. They aren't just fed broken glass and lead, and beaten every other day, and then turned loose to savagely rip arms and legs off of people.

Before anyone boo-hoos over poor didn't-pay-their-speeding-ticket prisoners, Angola is not your typical correctional facility. They are a high-max state penitentary with some of the most vile, evil human beings to ever walk the earth being housed there. If one wants to escape, I have no problems with a Fila getting the chance to do as he was born and bred to do. If it means a prisoner gets fatally mauled versus him having to chance to break into my home and murder my family, so be it.

My Dad did prison ministry at Angola. I know waaaay too much about the history of many of the prisoners he got to meet.

As for this situation, here are my thoughts:

-this dog does not look like a wolf-dog to me. If there is any wolf, it's a very, very, very low percentage.

-if the owner would've freaking kept the dog confined/restrained, this dog wouldn't be in this situation. The dog getting loose wasn't some one-time "oopsie! my bad!" situation; it was a repetitive offense.

-as for the dog not being aggressive, when your dog is roaming loose without you, you have no freaking idea how it's acting, so stop saying you do. I'm tired of hearing, "...but my dog is friendly. There's no way he was chasing the little boy. He just wanted to play!". Maybe he did just want to play, but maybe...just maybe...your precious little snookerdoodleums has a predatory/aggressive side you're pretty little rose-colored glasses didn't allow you to see.

The dog's owner is at fault. If she wants to blame someone for how the dog ended up in this situation, she should blame herself.

My neighbors dogs are continuously allowed to roam loose. Just because they haven't bitten anyone (yet), doesn't mean I am happy to put up with it. Dog owners have a responsibility to keep their dogs from being a nuisance to others; this means keep your damned dog on a leash or within a fence or in your home at all times.

**as for Angola's breeding of wolf-dogs, I'd heard a rumor, but it's not something they go about bragging about to the general public. But then again, when you house the nastiest murderers and rapists and child abusers/rapists/murders from throughout the country, more power to you.
 
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#19
They are a high-max state penitentary with some of the most vile, evil human beings to ever walk the earth being housed there. If one wants to escape, I have no problems with a Fila getting the chance to do as he was born and bred to do. If it means a prisoner gets fatally mauled versus him having to chance to break into my home and murder my family, so be it.
One of the reasons for using Filas is because it is in their nature to hold rather than maul -- as long as you don't fight back and stay still. That's a large part of the reason they were used to track down runaway slaves in the bad old days . . . they could track, were fast enough to catch, and didn't damage the slaves unnecessarily when they did catch. Unpleasant to consider, but a lot of history is like that.
 

Grab

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I have to think that, if the dog has been tranquilized a few times, the owner must have been aware of issues. They don't just dart your dog and leave it there.
 

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