Baltimore County officials claim a police canine facility, near a landfill in the Baltimore Highlands area, poses no health risk to officers or dogs.
Environmental chief David A.C. Carroll said in January that soil and groundwater tests commissioned by the county passed muster.
But how do you explain these facts: Between 1961 and 2003, one dog died of cancer in the canine unit. Since officers moved to the new site in 2003, five dogs have died of cancer. And between February and September 2005, 31 employees filed complaints of headaches, dizziness and breathing problems.
The police closed the park in September 2005, but it could be reopened.
County Executive Jim Smith asked the police chief, Terrence Sheridan, to support returning the dogs to the park or closing it permanently. The county maintains that two dogs have died of cancer.
A review of the county?s two prior studies by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health published in May disputes the safety of the land.
Hopkins researchers faulted the county studies for not accurately assessing the dogs? exposure to the dirt. They also found that the risks to the dogs? handlers were likely underestimated in the county assessment and that hazardous materials existed in the soil at levels above state regulations.
They noted that the cancer rate in the dogs at the park was more than five times higher than 11 other units in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
These dogs are not just statistics. They are trained to detect guns and bombs, retrieve bodies and rescue people from myriad situations. They are also beloved pets to their handlers. Their safety and that of their handlers is essential to our safety.
County officials stand by their studies.
The county Fraternal Order of Police does not. Last week, the FOP said it would not endorse Smith, a Democrat, in his reelection bid as it had in 2002, over the safety of the training park.
County spokesman Don Mohler estimates the county will make a decision about whether to return the canine unit to the park before the first of the year.
Why the wait? The temporary canine facility does not have any space to train the dogs ? space the animals need to practice to keep their skills sharp.
We hope that in the year since the facility closed, the county has researched other potential places for the unit that raise no health concerns. The officers and their dogs put their lives in danger to protect us. At the very least, they deserve to train in a healthy environment.
