Prince George's County Police K-9 handler charged with abusing dogs assigned to him
PGPD officers charged with animal cruelty on assigned K-9
A Prince George's County police officer is facing multiple animal cruelty charges, including a felony and the alleged victim in the case is the officer's own canine. FOX 5's Josh Rosenthal reports from Upper Marlboro at police headquarters with more on the case.
PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. - A Prince George’s County Police Department K-9 handler has been charged with abusing a 2-year-old dog assigned to him.
In a press conference Thursday, Police Chief Malik Aziz said Corporal David Acosta is charged with three counts of animal cruelty for the mistreatment of his bloodhound, Daisy.
According to police, on July 14, Acosta was suspended for an unrelated incident. As part of that suspension, two Canine Section handlers had to pick up Daisy and Acosta’s second dog, a Belgian Malinois named Spartacus.
After the dogs were picked up, the handlers saw injuries caused by an e-collar on Daisy’s neck. She was brought to a veterinarian for treatment on July 15 where the vet found infected puncture wounds on the right side of her neck that were scabbed, oozing blood and pus. The puncture wounds were just over an inch apart, which is consistent with the prongs of the e-collar.
The vet then shaved Daisy's neck to get a closer look and discovered multiple other puncture wounds, some of which were older and already scarring while others appeared to be more recent and were still healing.
Daisy also had severe periodontal disease that required medical care. The vet said it appeared that she had eaten a lot of wood or sawdust, which caused severe buildup on her teeth.
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After finding Daisy's injuries, police brought Spartacus in to be examined as well. He also had open neck wounds and scarring on his neck. Both dogs were put on antibiotics.
Internal affairs also began investigating, which resulted in the charges against Acosta. One of the three charges against Acosta is a felony. He has been suspended without pay.
"This situation involving Daisy is appalling. She is a part of the PGPD family. I expect that all of our handlers treat their canine partners with the utmost care and concern. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first incident of animal mistreatment in the 60-year history of the Canine Section," Chief Aziz said. "We have now put new policies into place with the intention of this being both the first and last."
Corporal Acosta joined the PGPD in 2006. He is currently assigned to the Special Operations Division.
The chief says Daisy is doing well and is back to work. She and Spartacus have been removed from Acosta’s care and were permanently reassigned to two veteran handlers.
Aziz says new policies have already been implemented to ensure the safety of the K-9 units going forward, including weekly visual inspections, bi-monthly in-depth inspections and bi-annual kennel inspections.
The dogs are in the custody of the Prince George's County police Department and they both of follow up vet visits scheduled.
Police are continuing to investigate.