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The Genesee County Jail’s 13-month-old therapy dog, Josie, was greeting inmates throughout the jail when she gets viciously attacked by an inmate on Tuesday, September 24.
In a news conference recorded via Facebook Live, Sheriff Chris Swanson revealed what went down during the violent incident inside Genesee County Jail.
During the encounter, Josie approached the inmate, Romello Maxwell, who was lying on the ground, before getting punched by him.
Josie started crying after being struck violently. And this prompted another inmate, who was sweeping the floor, approach Maxwell as a response to the violent encounter.
Sheriff Swanson reveals, “He struck Josie hard enough that created a concussion and scrapped the inside of her pupil.”
“She was sent to the vet emergency, [where] she stayed there for a day and a half. We had to get an MRI, we thought that it may have been a brain bleed and the cost is in the thousands,” the Sheriff added.
After watching the surveillance video of the attack, Prosecutor David Leyton said they charged Maxwell “as harshly as possible under Michigan law.”
Maxwell is charged as a habitual offender, which increases the maximum penalty from four years to eight years.
Furthermore, Maxwell has been revealed to have a history of assault against people, having previously assaulted two deputies in the last year.
“We’re going to hold people accountable. If they’re going to do that to these animals, they’re going to do it to people,” Sheriff Swanson said as he held Josie.
Leyton also said, “I don’t think the laws in Michigan are strong enough to protect our furry friends, and I think that if the legislature is listening and watching, maybe you’ll want to take a bill in that increases the penalties for people who would harm our friends, our dogs and our cats.”
Sheriff Swanson also reveals during the news conference that Josie is now doing well and is back on the job.
However, after the revelation that the dog is back to doing her job, people online were worried for Josie’s life and how dangerous it is for her breed, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, to be doing this job around inmates.
One user wrote, “Cavalier’s are too fragile to be put in potential harm. Therapy dog yes for nursing homes, pediatric units, helping yes but not inmates that had history of abuse.”
“Cavaliers are such small dogs. I just don’t understand how anyone thought it would be smart to expose a small animal to inmates who are known to be willfully and carelessly violent,” another wrote.
“I understand that therapy dogs can be beneficial, but in this scenario, at least use a larger breed that has a better chance at being able to defend itself and in the future, don’t leave them alone with these inmates to fend for themselves,” the user continued, before proceeding to call the incident a “careless mistake that could have been avoided”.