Virginia Delegates Proposes Bills to Limit and Prohibit Canines in Prisons
Last summer Business Insider's Hannah Blecker published an in-depth report about canine attacks inside of correctional facilities showing that around 90% of canine attacks occurring in prisons between 2017 and 2022 were in Virginia with 271 dog bites. Canines were used to break up fights or get inmates out of their cells. Most states have already eliminated this arcane practice, but it remains in Virginia.
There's an attempt to change that. Inspired after reading the report, Delegate Holly Seibold (D HD-12) proposed a bill (HB 159) that would end correctional facilities using canines from attacking inmates inside Virginia's correctional facilities. Exceptions would be made for canine units that work as search dogs or dogs to help with PTSD and other healing after traumatic events.
Seibold says that she has reached out to families with loved ones in the prisons. She asked if they felt like canines in prisons keeps the violence down like claims from the Virginia Department of Corrections claims and she said those stakeholders said it was an absolute no! Seibold stated that they claim that the dogs themselves are very violent. “There is no proof that actually shows that having canines in prisons helps keep inmates and corrections officers safe. In fact, it's quite the opposite.”
Virginia Department of Corrections still practices the use of canines in Virginia correctional facilities. Delegate Micheal Webert (R HD-78) has proposed a bill (HB 726) that would compromise limiting when corrections officers can use canines. Webert pointed out that it is effective to use as a less-lethal use of force. He also pointed out that the Department of Corrections does not currently have the same requirements to have standards like other law enforcement departments, something he is attempting to change rather than have an outright ban.
One thing that both Delegates can agree on is that current use of attack dogs does not make prisons any safer for the inmates or the officers. As well inhumane for the dogs. As the legislative session kicks off, both Democrats and Republicans will work on something that can get a signature from Governor Youngkin and address this issue.
Limiting the use of attack canines and requiring more training on the canines could make them no longer cost effective and phase them out over time while Virginia remains one of the few states that still authorizes use of attack canines in correctional facilities.
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