Mayfair Mall K-9 bite; trainer shares experience
K9 trainer talks recent Mayfair Mall incident
A security K-9 bit a woman during an altercation at Mayfair Mall last month.
WAUWATOSA, Wis. - After a K-9 bit a woman at Mayfair Mall, video of the bite had people asking a lot of questions.
In 2024, Wauwatosa crime reports show there were 151 calls for service to Mayfair Mall for disorderly conduct. Police say this most recent situation also stemmed from a fight.
The backstory:
On March 28, a security K-9 bit 19-year-old Amirah Walls during an altercation at the mall. Police say there was a fight and mall security intervened.
Cellphone video shows the dog clamped onto Walls' leg for at least a minute. She hired an attorney, B'Ivory LaMarr, who said Walls is dealing with complications and potential nerve damage as a result of the K-9 bite.
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In 2020, K-9s were implemented into Mayfair Mall after a shooting left eight people hurt. John Pearce was one of the people who helped train the dogs at the time.
Security dog bites woman at Mayfair Mall, police describe fight
A security K-9 bit a woman during an altercation at Wauwatosa's Mayfair Mall last week, police confirmed on Tuesday.
Pearce is now the co-director of the K-9 Guild. He watched the video and says chaotic situations like that could rattle a dog.
While every company has its own training, Pearce said it looks like the dog was under the control of the handler. Pearce says in his experience, K-9s have detected hundreds of firearms inside malls across the U.S.
What they're saying:
"The situation was very chaotic. There’s always that liability involved in any dog program you have," Pearce said. "Having people behave like that and honestly feel like we shouldn’t fault the dog so much. The dog is there for our protection and people should be acting cordial."
"Primarily, it is taught to choke the dog to get the dog to release – to inadvertently open his mouth," he said. "For what these dogs do, they are well worth that risk."
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Dig deeper:
FOX6 reached out to the security vendor, Andy Frain Services, if any disciplinary actions against the handler or K-9 were taken, but did not hear back.
However, documents obtained from the Wauwatosa Police Department say that the K9 involved, named ‘Blue’ had been sent to Indiana and the K9 handler had been terminated.
What's next:
LaMarr said they will likely hold a press conference this week.
The Source: The information in this post was produced by FOX6 News.