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October 22, 2006
Some US States Using Dogs To Terrify And Attack Prisoners
A new report from Human Rights Watch reveals that five U.S. state prison systems — Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, South Dakota, and Utah — authorize the use of large unmuzzled dogs to terrify and even attack prisoners to extract them from their cells. According to Human Rights Watch, no other country in the world authorizes the use of dogs to attack prisoners who will not voluntarily leave their cells.
The 20-page report, "Cruel and Degrading: The Use of Dogs for Cell Extractions in U.S. Prisons," publicly reveals this practice for the first time. It also shows that the practice is not only cruel, but wholly unnecessary as there are safer, more humane alternatives that corrections officers can use - and most across the country do use - to remove prisoners from their cells.
View an Arizona Dept. of Corrections video on the use of attack dogs for cell extraction. (Note: Arizona has since issued a moratorium on the use of attack dogs in its prison system.)
Jamie Fellner from Human Rights Watch recently appeared on Democracy Now! to discuss the use of attack dogs in US prison systems. Listen to the segment here.
| By Joshua Daniels | 10:38 AM