Dogsey

A dog described as a “wolf dog hybrid” has been granted a reprieve from being euthanised and instead given a job as a guard dog at Louisiana State Penitentiary. Chief was ordered to be destroyed for aggressive behaviour after neighbours at Pointe Coupee Parish testified that he often escaped from his owner's property and terrorised them. A Parish animal control order says that all dogs must be confined to an owner's property or secured on a leash when they are not.

After reading about Chief, prison officials decided guarding the perimeter of the 18,000-acre prison would give him a productive life, so Judge James Best signed an order releasing custody of Chief to the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections.

Deputy Warden Bruce Dodd said: “When we saw this dog in the paper, we thought it would be a shame to euthanise (it).”

Chief will be employed in a program developed by the state prison in which wolf-dogs guard the perimeter fencing encircling the prison's individual camps during the night. The Deputy Warden explained that the program also uses surveillance cameras, and has been important in helping to secure the prison since budget cuts resulted in lay-offs.

Dodd said they breed and raise wolf hybrids themselves and that Chief's aggressive behaviour would make him a “perfect fit” among the other hybrids already at the prison, which number at least twelve.

“That's the purpose of them,” Dodd said. “We don't want them to be vicious killers, but to be aggressive. They become a security measure.” He said that Chief would spend time training with a handler before going on patrol.

Chief's previous owner, Vicky Smith – who had Chief from a five-week-old puppy - was reported to be elated that Chief would not be destroyed but did not think he'd do well without his family.

“He's not going to do well without us,” she said. “We're his family. I think he's going to be really, really stressed. We keep him inside our air-conditioned home. I feel him oatmeal for breakfast. You think they're going to feed him that?”

Ms Smith went on to maintain that Chief was harmless and has never “bit or hurt anyone.”

“It's not right what they're doing,” she said. “I was going to sell my house and move out of the parish to keep my dog. I want my dog back, but once he goes to Angola I don't think I'll get him.”

An understanding between Angola and the court said that all the prison's dogs are “well kept and given top veterinarian care.”

After signing the order, Judge James Best said: “I'm just glad for the dog. It's a beautiful ending and the community got some relief. The dog is going to provide good service and be well taken care of.”