Legislation addresses dog attacks in Virginia prisons

HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin signed legislation that activists call a problem unique to Virginia.

From 2017 until 2022, there were 271 dog attacks in Virginia’s prisons, according to an investigation by Business Insider. In the U.S. during that same span of time, there were 295 dog attacks total. Only seven other states in the nation deploy patrol dogs in prisons. The state with the second most attacks, Arizona, reported 15 attacks in the same time frame, according to Business Insider.

“The numbers don’t lie - it really illustrates that this is a VA problem,” said Shawn Weneta, a Policy Strategist for the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia.

Patrol dogs are used in Virginia’s prisons to move incarcerated people from one cell to another, to enforce a lock down or to break up fights. It’s been that way for a long time.

“It really goes back to the ‘90s. Governor Allen brought in a corrections director by the name of Ron Angelone. Ron Angelone had sort of a philosophy that has kind of become known as the Angelone Doctorine, where he wanted to make prison so uncomfortable and quite frankly so miserable, that people would never want to come back,” said Weneta.

Weneta was incarcerated at Sussex I State Prison, where dogs were often deployed. Modern use of the patrol dogs began in the 1990s, but many changemakers in Virginia have acknowledged other times in U.S. history when dogs have been used to keep people in line.

“The use of dogs, on some level, goes back to the use of dogs when slaves ran away. When enslaved people ran away, Virginia used dogs,” said Kim Bobo, Executive Director of the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. “When we began incarcerating people in large numbers, particularly after the end of the Civil War, there’s been a history of using animals with people who are either imprisoned or enslaved.”

Taj Mahon-Haft was incarcerated for ten years. Now, he is the Co-Founder and Director of the Humanization Project, an organization that works to humanize people who are in prison.

“They are used to intimidate, not just for security. They are used haphazardly and aggressively in many cases -- I’m not trying to say every single instance but in ways that had detrimental affects on the well being of many people, especially happening in a disproportionately Black prison system in the heart of the south, given the history of attack dogs in such situations.”

Virginia State Delegate Holly Seibold introduced a bill that placed a ban on the use of patrol dogs in Virginia’s prisons.

“It was signaled to the players involved that the original bill which banned it outright, which is still the position I would take as the appropriate position,” said Mahon-Haft. “I do believe we should ultimately get there.”

Virginia State Delegate Michael Webert introduced a different bill.

“He also introduced a bill, but it was restricting the use rather than just an outright ban and taking the tool away entirely,” said Weneta. “The ACLU of Virginia certainly does not believe that these dogs are necessary to operate safe prisons; however, we knew that passing an outright ban would likely meet a veto from the governor. We went through negotiations with Del. Webert’s office, Del. Seibold’s office, as well as members of the General Assembly and the Governor’s office and came to a place where we believe that we could drastically reduce the dog attacks inside Virginia’s Prisons.”

HB 159 goes into effect on July 1. It said any use of patrol dogs in prisons has to be necessary to prevent serious injury or death to any person involved, or canine handlers must gain prior approval from the warden or supervisor. Also, the correctional officer should provide warning before dogs are deployed.

On top of that, there will be a layer of transparency added to the use of canines in Virginia’s facilities.

“There’s going to have to be reporting of all instances where the dogs are either requested to be used or used in force. That will be publicly available information. A lot of the problem here that nobody really was aware that this was happening like it is on the scale that it is,” said Mahon-Haft.

On top of that, the Department will track instances when canines were present or requested but no force was used.

“The best part of this bill as far as I’m concerned -- there has to be at least three people involved in an altercation for the dogs to be used. It can’t just be when one person or two people are in a fight or are agitated. You’ve just eliminated that entirely. It says that it can only be used when either somebody realistically thinks that severe injury or death is potentially involved if you do not use them,” said Mahon-Haft.

The bill also bans patrol dogs from being used in juvenile facilities.

“That can do just permanent emotional damage to young people,” said Bobo.

While many believe dogs should be taken out prisons altogether, activists said the legislation at hand should reduce injuries to incarcerated people.

“If we look at the number and look at the reports from the incident reports from the bites in Virginia over those six years, we really think this will reduce it - if this law is adhered to or if this law had been in place during that same period that these 271 bites took place, we believe that this law would reduce that from 271 bites to probably around a dozen or maybe even less, assuming this was actually adhered to,” said Weneta. “That’s giant progress and puts us in line with the other states that are still using dogs in the prisons.”

Those who fought for the legislation to be passed said using patrol dogs to intimidate inmates is dehumanizing; many also worry about the impact to the dogs. Weneta got his certification to be a dog trainer while in prison. He said looking back, it’s not a good situation for the canines involved. He saw handlers in prisons use aversive training methods; the American Kennel Club and American Professional Dog Trainer Associations recommend using positive reinforcement.

“The way the handlers interact with the dogs and the way they treat them, the cues they use, are entirely inappropriate by AKC and American Professional Dog Trainer Associations. They’re wholly inappropriate and the methods they use aren’t endorsed by the national accrediting bodies,” said Weneta.

On the other hand, local and state agencies are required to follow guidelines set aside by the Virginia Police Canine Association.

“Unfortunately the DOC is not,” Weneta said.

I emailed the Virginia Department of Corrections to address the legislation and changes. Here is the response from Communications Manager, Kyle Gibson.

The legislation to which you are referring largely codified already-existing VADOC operating procedures, while increasing transparency regarding the use of canines at facilities. Further, the legislation does not limit the use of canines at facilities. The VADOC supports the legislation that was signed into law by the Governor of Virginia.

Canines play a vital role at VADOC facilities, protecting correctional staff and inmates while deterring aggressive inmate behavior. This aligns with the VADOC’s mission of safely providing effective incarceration and supervision while ensuring long-term public safety.

I asked for clarification on how the legislation does not limit the use of canines; I have not received a response.