Advocates Vouch for Specially Trained Dogs in Preventing School Violence
Specially trained dogs might be the next big thing in school violence prevention.
According to a Star-Tribune article, Mark Gomer’s for-profit company has sent a gun- and drug-detecting dog – a year-old Dutch shepherd named Atticus – to patrol the halls of an Ohio high school. Atticus was trained at the school before the summer break, and he cost $10,000. The dog spends his days on a leash with two security officers and goes home with the principal at night.
Kristi Schiller is launching a nonprofit in Houston to give schools trained canines for free. She hopes her new initiative, K9s4KIDs does for schools what her K9s4COPs did for police departments. She has placed more than 60 dogs with agencies in three years, the article reports.
Schiller says it would be up to school officials to decide who will handle the dogs, what they would be trained to search for, and if a dog would be assigned to a single school or several within the district.
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