Kaz: South Dakota Highway Patrol Dog *

How many faithful dogs served their masters well in South Dakota can never be known. What is known, is that throughout the years many people in South Dakota have relied on dogs to assist in everyday life and to provide companionship.

While dogs continue to serve in many of their traditional functions, dogs have also taken on new and unique tasks that enhance the lives of their owners and the community. Therapy, medical assistance, and search and rescue are only a few of the many services dogs provide to the people of South Dakota.

Today, dogs contribute more to the welfare of individuals and society than perhaps any other time in the history of the human-dog bond. Additionally, over the past three decades, increased awareness of the importance of humane care and control of dogs, the enactment and enforcement of leash laws, and dog bite prevention education, have all been instrumental in drastically lowering the number of reported dog-related injuries nationwide.

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*Drug Dog Laid to Rest

PIERRE - On April 28, 2006, South Dakota Highway Patrol said good-bye to one of its most accomplished police service dogs. Kaz, a Belgian Malinois, was put to sleep because of failing kidneys.

Kaz holds the state record for the largest canine drug seizure. In March of 2004, during a traffic stop near Sioux Falls, Kaz discovered nearly 700 lbs. of marijuana.

Kaz was a dual purpose dog. He worked both to find drugs, and to find missing people. Kaz was particularly active in the Plankinton area when the Department of Corrections State Training School was still active. He tracked inmates who attempted to escape.

The Sioux Falls marijuana seizure was a fitting climax to a distinguished career. Kaz retired from duty with the South Dakota Highway Patrol later in 2004. He had been in service since 1996.

The South Dakota Highway Patrol currently has a dozen police service dog teams statewide. They are located in Aberdeen, Mitchell, Philip, Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Spearfish, Vermillion, and Watertown. Rapid City and Sioux Falls both have two teams apiece.

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Pals and partners Eric Peterson and Eve, an American Pit Bull Terrier that he adopted through Pit Rescue of the Great Plains, have now completed search-and-rescue training through the Brookings County Sheriff's Department K-9 Search and Rescue program.

Rescued dog becomes rescuer
May 7th, 2009
BY: John Kubal

Eric Peterson of Brookings is a rescuer times two. First, he rescued Eve, a 2-year-old American Pit Bull Terrier. Now, with a demanding training regimen behind them, he's ready to undertake some search-and-rescue missions - with a lot of help from his pawed pal and partner.

Eve is now qualified in "tracking and trailing ." She and Peterson are part of the Brookings County Sheriff's Department K-9 Search and Rescue program. A scenario for her and Peterson might be a situation where a nursing-home resident suffering from dementia wanders off or a child wanders away from home and becomes lost.

A "tracking dog" follows a subject's footsteps , being oriented to a mixture of human scent and ground disturbance where the subject walked; a "trailing dog" is oriented to the cells that people are always shedding, which would happen as the subject walked along the ground. Eve can find a subject using either or both methods.

Other search dogs work with orientation driven by an airborne human scent. And, finally, some search dogs are trained to find human remains.

Should the call for the services of Eve and Peterson come, they're ready to respond. Peterson, manager of Powershop Gym in downtown Brookings, defends dogs like Eve, whom he got via "Pit Rescue of the Great Plains," based in Sioux Falls, for which he serves as board secretary and Web master.

He likes to clarify the definition "pit bull" ; he calls it a "slang term." It's a more generic term that covers a wide variety of canine types with similar physical characteristics. In the United States, dogs like Eve are likely to be American Pit Bull terriers or American Staffordshire terriers. Peterson said the two breeds are cousins.

He explained, "We basically rescue American Pit Bull terriers in need, usually from shelters. We don't take owner surrenders ." But while there have long been organizations dedicated to rescuing a wide variety of dog breeds, adopting dogs like Eve just recently caught on.

Peterson explained, "Unfortunately , up until a few years ago, the Sioux Falls Humane Society would not adopt out American Pit Bull terriers. There's too much of a stigma and negative media publicity from people who either didn't socialize their dogs or kept them for the wrong reasons or treated them wrongly. There's a lot of shelters that will just put them down.

"No questions asked, no matter what. It could be the greatest dog in the world, but they just put them down if they suspect that they're an American Pit Bull Terrier.

For Peterson, it's his "breed of choice." But Eve won't be providing any additions to his breed of choice: she has been spayed. "Absolutely ," he said. "Everyone should spay or neuter their dogs."

A key reason for his selection of Eve was his own personality and lifestyle. "I am an athletic person; I like to be active," said Peterson, whose life work is helping people get fit. "I wanted an intelligent , smart, athletic breed."

He's also practical: "I'm not a huge fan of long-coated dogs. So the nice, short coat is a good option. And small size; 60 pounds should be breed-standard max." Eve weighs in at 57 pounds and is "in summer shape."

Finally, she is "very intelligent," willing to work for her owner-partner , and "very trainable" - in a wide range disciplines.

He and his wife, Stephanie, adopted Eve when she was 15 weeks old and "very much a puppy." So he's had plenty of time to train her. And he'll keep training her.

Peterson explained, "They're very, very social dogs. These dogs absolutely need to be in a house with a family. If they don't have social contact, they will not be happy. And if they're not happy, they can have issues."
And those issues, some of which can lead to bad press, Peterson blames on the owners: "Stupid people make stupid owners make stupid dogs." Eve: a 'good citizen'
Eve has been through such classes as agility, obedience, manners, outdoor activities , and "K-9 Good Citizen" training, which is affiliated with the American Kennel Club.

Peterson believes that dogs like Eve always "need a good outlet of energy. Dogs are happy when they're tired."

Recognizing that need for an energyoutlet for Eve, Peterson saw the next step was a program where he and she "could train all the time." That led to search-and-rescue training, via the Brookings County Search and Rescue K-9 program; it offers "training all the time and constant challenges, new terrain , new scenery, trails that are never the same - whatever you want to make of it."

Peterson equates the rescue work he will do with Eve to service as a volunteer firefighter , which he considered. But, he explained, "I have her; why not involve something with her, that we can do together, productive, give back to the community."

Smiling, he summed it all up, saying, "She was rescued; now she's ready for rescuing others."

National Canine Research Council

What is a dog bite?

While the question seems simple enough, the answer is often not what we imagine.

Over the past 3 decades, increased awareness of the importance of humane care and control of dogs, the enactment and enforcement of leash laws, and dog bite prevention education, have all been instrumental in lowering the number of reported dog-related injuries nationwide

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National Canine Research Council

Over the past 45 years (1965 - present) there have been five (5) dog bite-related fatalities in the South Dakota, an average of one (1) fatality every eight (8) years.

NCRC's 2011 Preliminary Report on Dog Bite-Related Fatalities illustrates the challenge of accurately reporting on these extremely rare, tragic events. Our mission of preserving the human-canine bond obligates us to be as accurate about these emotionally charged incidents as we can, so that they are calmly, correctly and, therefore, usefully understood. Accuracy takes time.

A different breed/type of dog was reported to be involved in each of these incidents.*

None of the dogs involved had been spayed or neutered by their owners.

The victims were 1 adult and 4 children.

Two of the children were killed when they approached unfamiliar, chained dogs.

The last fatality in South Dakota occurred in 1997, when a 5-year-old girl was killed when she tried to hug a chained dog. (Custer)

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*Note: In recent years, scientists have established that visual identification of dogs of unknown origin is extremely unreliable; therefore, while we can be sure these listed incidents involved varied types of dogs, we cannot be certain of the accuracy of most breed identifications.

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In spite of the negligence of some dog owners, dogs still pose an incredibly low risk for causing a fatality in South Dakota:

According the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:

In 2007, eight (8) South Dakota children died as a result of maltreatment (abuse, neglect).

In the single year 2007, twice as many South Dakota children died from maltreatment as the total of all children killed by dogs in the state over the past 45 years.

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Fact is, people in South Dakota routinely accept the greater risks associated with ATVs, bicycles and swimming pools than any that are associated with companion animals.

National Canine Research Council