VICTORIA — The British Columbia government has introduced new rules for the training and deployment of police dogs months after a report singled out dog bites as the leading cause of injuries.
Attorney General Suzanne Anton says the standards emphasize proper training and spell out permitted uses of the dogs, with an effort to make sure the animals aren't used improperly.
In June, the Pivot Legal Society released a three-year study that concluded police dogs are the leading cause of injury by RCMP and municipal forces in B.C.
The study found most B.C. police forces train service dogs with a method called bite-and-hold, as opposed to the other leading technique that simply sees the dogs circle and bark.
Pivot staff lawyer Douglas King says standards, such as not deploying a dog after an elderly person or a youth, which the Pivot study found was common occurrence, are common sense.
The regulations don't come into force until September next year, but King says he hopes police forces begin phasing in the standards to better protect the public before then.
