Miami-Dade Police Sergeant Kicks K-9 Partner to Death

I first received this information by e-mail on 10/12/07. I couldn't believe it. I worked with the K-9 teams here in Louisville, KY until my health became such that I couldn't go with them on Training Night and keep up with the pack. The human Officers here care for and about their canine partners with a zeal that I could wish to see in the civilian workforce.

Since I seldom believe everything I'm sent as an e-mail, I decided to delve into the report of the K-9's death and see what I could find out. I started my investigation on October 22, 2007 by calling the Prosecutor's Office in Miami. During that telephone call, I was told that they did indeed have a case against Sergeant Allen Cockfield for felony animal cruelty and killing a police dog. The case was originally scheduled for trial September 24th of 2007 but had been laid over until December 17th, 2007.

According to the original e-mail, the reason that Duke, a 4 year old German shepherd, Sergeant Cockfield's K-9 partner, was kicked to death was that during an obedience training exercise Duke barked when he shouldn't have. When Duke barked, Sgt. Cockfield, in a "fit of rage," jerked Duke up by the collar around his neck and then kicked him several times. At the time of Sgt. Cockfield's "fit of rage", there were other Officers and K-9s present in the training compound.

I next went to The Police News, a BLOG for policemen; they had a post (#143) up in regard to Sgt. Cockfield's arrest for kicking Duke to death. The report on Police News was quite short, simply stating that Sgt. Cockfield is a 27 year veteran of the Miami-Dade Police Department, had been a K-9 Officer and handler for 25 years and had been placed on administrative duty with pay during the investigation of the incident. The Police News report further stated that when Sgt. Cockfield realized that Duke was unconscious, he had rushed him to Knowles Animal Clinic. The Police News stated that their information had come from WPLG Local 10 News.

I sent WPLG Local 10 an e-mail asking for any follow up information they might have on Duke's death, including the necropsy report that Local 10 had stated was forthcoming. That was on 11/01/07. My reason for waiting was so that I could calm down and write a factual report. I am presently "owned" by 4 German shepherds and shepherd mixes, 2 of each, all animals I have rescued from intolerable conditions. It is inconceivable to me that kicking is the sort of "discipline" that is ever needed by either a canine or a child.

Tonight, 11/12/07, I telephoned WPLG asking for the information I had requested by e-mail. Even though I called at what was probably a most inconvenient time (right in the middle of the 6:00 PM news cast), Ms. Antonio was very polite, helpful, compassionate and professional. She e-mailed me the information I had requested.

The information Ms. Antonio sent comes from the Miami Herald, dated May 31st, 2007, section B-1 and is written by Mr. David Ovalle. It states that: Duke was killed by a lethally timed heart-disrupting kick delivered by his handler, Miami-Dade Police Sergeant Allen Cockfield. This means that the kick disrupted the electric flow of the heart, a painful but almost instantaneous death. There would have been no chance of resuscitation, even if canine CPR was started immediately. Duke would have yelped in pain, convulsed and died.

Mr. Ovalle's article goes on to state that Sgt. Cockfield denies kicking Duke and that his lawyer; Douglas Hartman has called Cockfield's arrest a "travesty of justice" he also stated "I'm stunned; I've never seen a case like this. He (Cockfield) is one of the best dog handlers in the department." He also suggested that Duke's death was due to a "genetic defect."

Interesting. However, Sgt. Cockfield is facing felony charges filed by the Miami Dade Police Department's Internal Affairs Unit for both animal abuse and killing a police K-9. I would expect him to refuse to accept his responsibilities by stating that he hadn't kicked Duke.

As for Mr. Douglas Hartman, he's a paid mouthpiece who is paid to try to make his client look good. I suppose one of his (Hartman's) defenses with be "But he was just a dog." Sorry, Mr. Mouthpiece, Duke was a heck of a lot more that that! He was Cockfield's PARTNER and deserving of the same respect. A simple but stern; "No!" "Bad Dog", "Down!" command would have had Duke groveling at Cockfield's feet in an attempt to apologize for upsetting his "God." Oh, by the way, Mr. Mouthpiece, the necropsy report states no evidence of genetic abnormality. 'Fraid you can't get away with that one either.

Duke cost the Miami-Dade Police Department $8,500, according to the Miami Herald. Actually, he cost the taxpayers of Miami-Dade. Now, due to one "person's" anger, the citizens of Miami-Dade are out 2 working police officers. The one that's in jail or out on bond, awaiting trial and the one who was killed in the line of duty.

Something else I found interesting; Duke was Cockfield's 4th dog in 25 years. In other words, a new dog about every 6¼ years. What happened to the others?

The Prosecutor's Office is still taking comments with regard to Duke's death. If you write or call, please be polite.

Ms. Isis Perez
Public Corruption Unit
1350 N.W. 12th Avenue Miami, FL 33136-2111
Tel. (305) 547-0664

Thanks for reading.

Wolf~Walker

Sources: Ms. Perez's Office
Miami Herald
Record # 200705310301KNRIDDERFLMIAMIH_canine
(www.miamiherald.com)
WPLG Local 10
(www.local10.com)
The Police News
www.thepolicenews.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-t.cgi/143
(www.thepolicenews.com)
The Pet Abuse Web-site
Case ID 8921
(www.pet-abuse.com)