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Copyright © 2010 Albuquerque Journal
By Charles D. Brunt
Journal Staff Writer
Ace and Echo are going home. The two drug-detecting German shepherds whose plight ignited outrage from dog lovers statewide will be retired effective today, Gov. Bill Richardson’s office said Thursday. “After looking closely at the requests from concerned New Mexicans from across the state, I have decided to pardon these dogs effective January 1, 2010, and allow them to be adopted by their handlers,” Richardson said in a statement. “I am concerned about the well being of Ace and Echo and I believe pardoning the dogs is in their best interest.”
Ace and Echo were thrust into the spotlight after state Corrections Department officials ordered the two dogs to be housed in kennels on the grounds of the Southern New Mexico Correctional facility, where they worked.
Contrary to department policy, the dogs had been allowed to live with their handlers for more than two years because the kennels at Southern were not yet built. The facility has had a prison canine program since 2001.
When Echo and Ace were placed in the prison kennels starting in March, they exhibited signs of separation anxiety, including spinning, biting themselves, gastrointestinal problems and jumping at the kennel’s fence. They were briefly returned to their handlers’ homes to recover, but were then sent back to the prison kennels, sparking the public outcry.
In Journal stories, Corrections officials maintained that the on-grounds kenneling policy, which is enforced at other state prisons, was in the best interests of the dogs. Department spokeswoman Tia Bland also said there were liability concerns with having the dogs off prison property. And in one story, she pointed out that the dogs were not pets, but “like prison property.”
The Governor’s Office and Corrections Department were deluged with outraged calls and e-mails criticizing the policy as cruel and inhumane.
Regardless of the public reaction, Ace and Echo were shipped to Santa Fe on Tuesday, without their handlers, for a planned three-month stay in an attempt to “recondition” them to live in a prison kennel.
On Wednesday, Animal Protection of New Mexico called for an outside review of the Corrections Department’s kenneling policy and asked that Ace and Echo be retired and allowed to be adopted by their handlers.
On Thursday, the governor did precisely that.
“Governor Richardson has directed Corrections Secretary Joe Williams to retire the two German shepherds, ages 4 and 7, from service immediately,” the statement from Richardson’s office says. “The governor has also directed the Department of Corrections to re-evaluate its K-9 policies.”
Sam Chavez, a spokesman for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a union representing officers at Southern, said he was pleased Ace and Echo would be retired and adopted, but wondered whether the dogs would be replaced.
“That is a vital program for the facility,” Chavez said, noting that Southern had only the two dog teams. The dogs are trained to sniff out illicit drugs, patrol prison grounds and catch fugitives. Similar canine teams are used at all state correctional facilities, he said.
Chavez said Ace and Echo’s handlers, who have been precluded from speaking publicly about the controversy for fear of violating policies, were eager to adopt their canine partners.
“That’s all the handlers wanted — for the dogs to be safe,” he said.
Posted with permission from the Albuquerque Publishing Company. |
