Black history is filled with the traumatic use of dogs to cause harm or even kill us. It dates back to slavery, and some of the most vivid images we have of the civil rights movement are of dogs attacking Black people.
The problem is, this isn’t just the past.
Police dogs still frequently attack Black people. In Indianapolis – the city that leads the nation in these attacks – police dogs bite a Black person once every five days!
60% of all bites were against Black people, and almost 70% of those bitten were non-violent. That’s not even the worst part.
Dog bites can cause MAJOR health problems. According to the Marshall Project, “police dog bites send thousands of Americans to emergency rooms each year, causing more hospitalizations than any other police use of force.”
In Montgomery, Alabama, a 51-year-old Black man named Joseph Pettaway was recently KILLED after a dog tore an artery in his groin! His family is now suing, and they’ve had to FIGHT for body cam footage.
And he’s not alone.
Though police dog attacks are rarely fatal, Black people are the major sufferers of this sort of assault. They’re regularly used on us, causing terrible injuries. This must stop! We have to speak out against this form of police brutality, too.