In the doghouse: A member of Santa Fe’s K-9 unit is the focus of an internal affairs investigation

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — As a puppy, there were high hopes for Ayke to help revive the Santa Fe Police Department’s K-9 program. Now, four years later, the German shepherd is in the doghouse. He has bitten more people than any other dog in the department’s K-9 unit and is the subject of an internal affairs investigation into an attack in March on one of the department’s own officers. The city also is defending against a lawsuit filed by an officer who was attacked during a 2022 training exercise. While police dogs have been praised by some, injuries caused by the animals have made headlines in Ohio, Utah and elsewhere in recent years.