VANCOUVER — A legal advocacy group in British Columbia is demanding that dog handlers with the Vancouver Police Department wear body cameras after a bystander was mauled earlier this week.
Doug King of Pivot Legal Society says the use of police dogs is on the rise and recording these incidents would provide an objective look at the circumstances around their use.
A man was sent to hospital with serious injuries following a police takedown in the search for kidnappers in New Westminster on Monday.
A spokeswoman with a New Westminster hospital says Vick Supramaniam, the person identified in the media as the dog-bite victim, has been discharged.
Media reports say the man lost part of his left ear and was bitten on his thigh.
The Independent Investigations Office, the body that investigates serious injuries or death involving police, is looking into the incident, which involved the arrest of three people in a homicide and kidnapping probe.
King says police dog bites can cause serious damage and he wants the canines to be reclassified as a serious, possibly lethal use of force, and not as an intermediate weapon.
