The Humane Society of the United States is applauding the N.C. State Highway Patrol's decision to disband its canine unit and build a new one that does not use aggressive training tactics and solely uses dogs for sniffing out narcotics.

N.C. Crime Control Secretary Bryan Beatty and patrol Commander Walter J. Wilson Jr. announced the plan on Monday, Dan Kane reports.

"We commend Secretary Beatty and Colonel Wilson for working to ensure  that all dogs employed by the North Carolina Highway Patrol are treated in a humane manner, and that all officers who handle these animals are fully and properly trained," said Amanda Arrington, the society's North Carolina state director.

The patrol suspended the unit after testimony in a personnel hearing seven months ago showed that troopers were using harsh training tactics such as swinging and suspending dogs by their leads, shocking them with stun guns and throwing plastic bottles filled with pebbles at them.

The hearing was held to determine if Sgt. Charles L. Jones should get his job back.

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A former State Highway Patrol sergeant fired for kicking his police dog during training should get his job back, the State Personnel Commission said today.

The commission found that the patrol had failed to prove that Sgt. Charles L. Jones' actions constituted personal misconduct, or that he had abused the dog, Ricoh. Jones should also receive back pay, the commission said.

A 12-year veteran of the patrol, Jones was dismissed in September 2007 after a video of him kicking Ricoh, then a 7-year-old Belgian Malinois, had surfaced, Dan Kane reports. The patrol initially planned to discipline him with a lesser penalty, but dismissed him after the governor's office got involved.

Jones fought the dismissal at an administrative hearing in April, saying he was only following training methods other troopers had used. More than a dozen troopers testified and spoke of  rough obedience techniques such as swinging or hanging dogs by their leads, shocking them with stun guns and throwing rock-filled bottles at them. Patrol policies provided little guidance in training techniques.

Senior Administrative Law Judge Fred G. Morrison sided with Jones, saying the governor's office had placed undue pressure on the patrol to fire Jones. The commission did not agree with that finding.

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A state administrative law judge today called for the reinstatement of a state trooper who was videotaped kicking his dog while it was suspended from a deck.

Judge Fred Morrison concluded that state officials short circuited disciplinary procedures in firing Sgt. Charles Jones over his treatment of the dog, reports Jane Ruffin.

Jones was fired in September, a month after a trooper used a cell phone to record footage of Jones suspending his dog, Ricoh, from a railing, then kicking him at least five times. Jones insisted that what he did was not abusive and that trainers had used several other rough methods.

Ricoh, a 7-year-old Belgian Malinois, was not seriously hurt. He has since been retired from the patrol.

Morrison also said the state should not use dogs such as Ricoh for law enforcement purposes unless it purchases fully-trained canines to be handed by trained troopers who receive specific written techniques for compliance.

The N.C. Highway Patrol suspended its canine program last month until a review determines if dogs were regularly mistreated.

The Humane Society of the United States supports N.C. Crime Control and Public Safety Secretary Bryan Beatty suspension of the N.C. Highway Patrol's canine program until a review determines if dogs were regularly mistreated.

"Secretary Beatty has done the right thing by suspending North Carolina's K9 program while a full review is pending," said Ann Church, HSUS regional director for the Eastern mountain states, in a news release. "He deserves great credit for making a politically difficult decision to step in before a dog is killed. Taxpayers deserve greater transparency of K9 training protocols, and the dogs who serve the people of North Carolina deserve to be treated humanely."

Beatty ordered the suspension after canine handlers and trainers testified in the personnel hearing of fired Sgt. Charles L. Jones that police dogs had been subjected to rough obedience techniques such as suspending them by their leashes, twirling them until they are disoriented and shocking them, Dan Kane reports.

Jones, who is trying to get his job back, was shown on a cellphone video kicking his police dog Ricoh after suspending him from a loading dock rail. Ricoh was not seriously hurt and has been retired from the force.

The Humane Society said it strongly supports canine law enforcement work and believes that the vast majority of canine officers in the nation treat their assigned animals with love and respect. The Humane Society also said there is a need for humane training protocols for canine units across the nation.

The N.C. Highway Patrol has pulled its 10 police dogs off duty indefinitely after several troopers testified in a personnel hearing this week to several rough training methods that involved shocking, kicking and suspending the dogs.

Patrol spokesman Lt. Everett Clendenin said that Bryan Beatty, the N.C. Crime Control and Public Safety secretary who oversees the patrol, ordered the suspension so that a review can be conducted of training techniques, Dan Kane reports.

"We can't run the risk of one of our dogs being injured or somebody in the public being injured because of the training," Clendenin said. "We're not sure what's taking place, so that's what we are going to do."

Over the course of three days of hearings into the firing of Sgt. Charles Jones, who is trying to win his job back, troopers in the canine program have said that dogs have been shocked with a stun gun, kicked, and suspended until they are nearly unconscious.

They also have acknowledged throwing plastic bottles filled with stones at the dogs and twirling them around in a technique known as "helicoptering," sometimes releasing them in midair.

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The 15-second video, taken by another trooper using his cell phone, shows Sgt. Charles L. Jones kick the dog, Ricoh, five times, Dan Kane reports.

The dog was tied to the railing by its leash at the time, with its front paws in the air and its rear paws touching the ground. With each kick, the dog swung about two or three feet under the dock.

Altogether, Trooper Raymond Herndon testified, Jones kicked the dog up to eight times. The dog, a 7-year-old Belgian Malinois, was not seriously injured.

The case became public during a string of stories about troopers accused of misconduct.

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