Sherriff's office: Segree followed proper procedure in dog mauling

Undersheriff Joel Norred said Monday that Deputy Donnie Segree followed correct police procedure when responding to an attack by two pit bulls on a household pet in Eastpoint on Oct. 15 (See Times, Nov. 19 "Pit bulls maul dog to death in Eastpoint"))

“Our officers really aren’t trained to intervene with animals. We call animal control when we have this kind of problem,” he said.  “Officer Segree acted properly.  He did make the attempt to contact his supervisor.”

Norred said the rights of the owners of all dogs involved have to be considered in a situation like a dog fight. “How can we know which dog started the fight?  If a child were involved, it would be different,” he said.

Van Johnson, director of animal control, shared Norred’s viewpoint, and said that animal control officers go through 40 hours of special training and attend refresher courses every other year in addition to special seminars on topics such as euthanasia.

He said animal control officers try to respond in an emergency situation, but that there are no funds for night or evening hours.

“We probably receive more calls for fighting on the weekends than any other time,” Johnson said.  “If they’re going to do something illegal, they’re not going to do it when they know they’re being monitored.”