El Cajon Police Dogs Pulled From Duty After Attack on Suspect

El Cajon police have pulled their nine police dogs off the streets and ordered a full-scale evaluation of their canine program after a dog bit a 27-year-old El Cajon man on his neck and ear as he lay handcuffed on the ground, officials said.

“We want to thoroughly examine our dog program and all of its various components and make sure everything is as it should be,” El Cajon Police Lt. Jim Davis said.

The department decided Tuesday to indefinitely remove the dogs from service and order the evaluation in light of the Monday night incident in which the dog bit Douglas Clayton Meserole’s neck and ear while he was in custody, Davis said.

The decision pleased Joyce Swineheart-Moore, Meserole’s aunt.

“I’m very pleased with the action and I appreciate the chief’s decision,” Swineheart-Moore said. “I do hope they are going to look just as closely at their personnel’s actions that evening.”

Meserole was taken into police custody after he reportedly kicked at a police officer and grabbed and punched a police dog several times, which then bit his arm and leg, police said. But as Meserole lay handcuffed on the ground in the 300 block of South Lincoln Avenue, he was attacked by another police dog, which bit his neck and ear.

Meserole was released Wednesday night from Grossmont Hospital, where he was treated for the bites, Swineheart-Moore said. Three quarters of Meserole’s left ear was bitten off, and he will return to the hospital within the next two days for further treatment, she said.

Swineheart-Moore said her nephew has retained an attorney.