OWNER, PRISON FEUD OVER DRUG DOG

Pet Was On Loan When He Got Hurt

HUNTSVILLE - Seven months ago, Hershey the drug-sniffing dog was at the top
of his game - a canine narcotics officer taking a bite out of crime in Texas
prisons.

But crime bit Hershey back, and his owner, Stephenie Anderson, can't
understand why the Texas Department of Criminal Justice won't take
responsibility for his injuries.

"Animals can't talk for themselves, so we have to speak for them," she says.
"(TDCJ) doesn't like to tell the truth."

While on loan to the prison system, the chocolate-colored Labrador retriever
was stolen and injured. But prison officials say they cannot pay thousands
of dollars to cover Hershey's veterinary bills because their own agreement
with Anderson violated agency policy.

Ben Brown, the Region V assistant director who approved the loan, was
disciplined after an internal affairs investigation. The dispute also could
spawn a legal dogfight, with Anderson vowing to sue to recover damages.

How the agency responded to Hershey's ordeal is at the heart of her
grievance. She says TDCJ employees reneged on their promise to care for
Hershey, lied about his injuries and let the dog suffer needlessly "either
to save face or save them money."

Agency spokesman Glen Castlebury said he could not comment on Anderson's "he
said-she said" allegations, but he denied any department staffers
intentionally would allow an animal to suffer.

He acknowledges, however, the dispute identifies a need for stricter
adherence to policies regarding animal ownership and handling.

"It serves to show the problems attendant to people having personal dogs (on
the job), and it shows the problems attendant to these dogs being kept in
people's homes," he said. "It's just not a good business practice."

Steps have been taken to correct the problems, including initiating the
construction of a kennel, he said.

Anderson bred and raised Hershey, now 2. But he learned his trade in the
prisons, sniffing out caches of illegal drugs, tobacco and other contraband
under the tutelage of then Sgt. Anderson, a TDCJ dog handler for 10 years.

When Anderson quit in December to open a kennel, she offered to loan Hershey
to Chrystal Holman, who was starting a narcotics interdiction team in the
agency's northwest region.

"Because he is a certified drug dog, he's always getting into things,"
Anderson said. "And I did it because I believe in the drug dog program. I
had an asset I thought would help them."

Brown, Holman's boss, reached an oral agreement with Anderson to care for
Hershey for one year in exchange for the drug dog's services.

Hershey was in the back yard of Holman's private Abilene residence when he
and another dog were stolen March 23 amid a rash of animal thefts.

Animal control officers found Hershey three days later, limping down a
street several miles from the Holman house, and returned him to the handler.
Hershey's pelvis was fractured in three places, he was shedding excessively
and one of his front teeth was broken, veterinary records show.

Worse, Anderson says, the dog's personality changed. Once even-tempered,
Hershey had become alternately timid and aggressive.

"I guess he's just a pet now," she says. "His bones are healed, but
attitude-wise, he's never going to make it again as a drug dog. He's too
skittish. With drug work you have to have a very confident dog, and he's not."

TDCJ officials never told Anderson that the dog had been missing. Brown
advised Holman not to tell Anderson immediately about the theft, according
to agency documents.

"I saw no point in upsetting Anderson when she could not do more to recover
the dog than Officer Holman was already doing," Brown said in an April 12
interoffice memorandum.

Instead, Holman told Anderson that Hershey had been injured in a dog fight,
records show. A few days later, Anderson learned about the theft through
other sources and demanded Hershey's immediate return.

A subsequent trip to a veterinarian revealed the extent of the dog's injuries.

His promising career cut short, Hershey's market value - which Anderson
estimated at $4,000 - also vaporized.

By early June, prison officials had decided that Brown had violated a policy
requiring that all canines either be donated or purchased. On June 3, he was
put on six months of disciplinary probation.

Brown declined comment on the matter, referring questions to the agency's
public information office.

Prison officials also denied Anderson's June 8 request for $9,330 to cover
Hershey's lost value, veterinary bills and related expenses.

"There is no avenue for the agency to pay these expenses since policy was
violated and purchasing procedures preclude payment," TDCJ Inspector General
John F. McAuliffe wrote in a July 8 letter to Anderson.

Castlebury says state law prohibits the agency from spending tax dollars on
employees' private property.

"For example, I cannot use state funds to fix my automobile because it broke
down on a state trip," he says.

The agency approached Anderson about buying Hershey, but she rejected that
idea because TDCJ sells some retired dogs for medical research.

Since then, Anderson's attorney, James Hurst, has attempted to settle the
matter with the agency's lawyers. Unsuccessful so far, he says he
anticipates a lawsuit.

Meanwhile, Anderson says she and Hershey are trying to regain their faith in
people.

"I'm not naive," she says. "But ... if a supervisor like Mr. Brown gave you
their word, it was as good as gold. Things are different now.

"That's the reason I like working with animals," she adds. "You can trust them."