Test Confirms Cancer Caused K-9's Death

PARKVILLE, Md. -- Test results indicate a police K-9 died from two forms of cancer.

The WBAL-TV 11 News I-Team reported late last month that five police dogs have died in 2005 -- three in December alone.

A necropsy into the latest dog's death indicates the 7-year-old German shepherd died as a result of brain and spleen cancer.

WBAL-TV 11 News reporter Darrielle Snipes reported the animal was diagnosed with brain cancer last March and suffered from severe seizures before he was put to death in December.

Out of the five K-9 deaths, one dog's death remains inconclusive and four deaths were confirmed to have been from cancer. Officials await test results for one of the dogs who died from a stomach tumor that was bleeding.

The report has increased concerns of a link between the illnesses and the training facility where the dogs were once housed.

"I think it's significant that it is also two different forms of cancer in two different places in the body," said Cole Weston, president of the Baltimore County FOP. "Is it associated with the environment? ... That's a question that needs to be answered before anybody returns to the facility."

The county moved its K-9 facility to a portion of the Southwest Area Park in the spring of 2003 after concluding that the site was environmentally safe, despite its previous longtime use as an unregulated landfill.

Officials have not linked the environmental circumstances at the Southwest Area Park to any health problem, among people or dogs.

The county closed the facility in September and continues to conduct further testing at the site. Snipes said results from soil tests are pending.

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