Estevan Police Chief Paul Ladouceur is defending officers, and, in particular, K9 unit member Const. Paul Chabot, after allegations were recently posted on an Estevan Rant and Rave Facebook group.
Ladouceur said statements on the page were brought to his attention Thursday morning. A group member alleged that Chabot was abusing police service dog Max, who has been part of the EPS since the spring of 2017. The police chief said he is concerned when he sees an allegation of animal abuse.
“We talked directly to the K9 officer, because he was doing some training in the city … and the officer assured us that he would never do such a thing. In fact, he loves the dog very much and is an animal lover,” said Ladouceur.
When Ladouceur has seen Chabot with Max at community events in the past, Chabot has treated the dog with the greatest of care.
There have never been any reports of abuse of that dog by anybody, Ladouceur said, whether it be through calls to the police station or social media posts.
The police chief then reached out to the person who made the post. Ladouceur was told the allegation stemmed from something that happened nearly a year ago, but was only brought up now.
The individual removed the post from the group.
“I would hope that if there is ever a concern about a K9 matter in our community, that the individual would pick up the phone and contact us, or make a public complaint, or contact an animal rights group or something of that nature, but to sit back and say this is almost a year later, and now it’s become a concern, is concerning to me,” said Ladouceur.
When information is posted on social media, people will often jump on board and fuel the misinformation, Ladouceur said. He encourages people to always call police, so that they can speak to the officer or the subject of the complaint.
