Former Watsonville police officer Francisco Ibarra has been charged with animal cruelty towards his former canine partner Ingo.
The 5-year-old German Shepherd was rescued from Ibarra’s home in February weighing an emaciated 55 lbs. According to the Monterey County SPCA, a dog like Ingo should weight at least 80 lbs.
During an examination of the dog, a veterinarian declared him to have no discernible body fat; an x-ray of Ingo’s stomach revealed it was filled with sand and dirt he had eaten in his fight for survival.
The official examination, paired with Ingo’s visible ribs and hip bones, made it clear to the SPCA that the anonymous tip they had received about his conditions was valid. They immediately started him on a specialized diet and feeding schedule.
Despite the prolonged abuse, Ingo is making a slow recovery and now weighs 70 lbs.
Sgt. Stacy Sanders of the SPCA for Monterey County told KTVU it was rare for police dogs to be mistreated after they retire:
“They’re usually pretty well cared for. These dogs risk their lives for their handlers, so even after they’re retired their owners often treat them better than their families (did).”
Ibarra’s alleged abuse towards the animal may have been a form of revenge. Ibarra was dismissed from the Watsonville Police Department in 2010 after an incident in which Ingo bit a man resisting arrest.
According to Monterey County Chief Assistant District Attorney Terry Spitz, Ibarra has officially been charged with two counts of criminal cruelty to animals and will be arraigned on April 18.
Last modified March 27, 2012 11:17 am
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Former cop charged with abusing K-9 partner http://t.co/upg6bKlN via @sfbay
The dog was a police officer. Ibarra should not have been allowed to keep him after he was fired. Sad but true: Lots of police officers abuse their dogs by kicking and hanging them.
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Despite the comment by Sgt. Sanders, it has been my experience (and further supported by research) that K9's are often severely abused (and neglected). At the department where I worked, the K9's are often hanged to unconsciousness, helicoptered, slammed to the ground, and kicked in the stomach and gonads. Their nickname for the K9 unit is "The Hang 'Em High" Club. When I first started there, the handlers often bragged about hanging their dogs, and the lynching that I witnessed was done for personal power and amusement. This is going on all over the U.S. and the world, and is standard procedure behind the scenes in what they call "training." Many K9's have also perished of heat prostration in the vehicles driven by their handlers. So, in spite of the lip service they give to how much they appreciate their K9 "partners," many handlers do not appear to really care, based on their mistreatment and neglect . More information can be found at Stoplynching.com