This “investigation” into the abuse of K-9 Zuul has taken almost a month and is still not completed.

It should take, at the most, one day to complete. The evidence is in the video which is available to anyone to view. It seems like this entire case is being swept under the rug in hopes that people will forget about it.

Why did the mayor refuse to comment about when she first saw or heard about the video? What is she hiding? This abuse supposedly happened last October. Why was Zuul not taken to the vet until March 4? After five months, any traces of physical abuse would be gone.

Why did Chief Stokes say the video should not be taken out of context? Anybody viewing that video could see it was clearly animal abuse and not a training tactic. Why was this officer not placed on administrative leave from the police department instead of administrative leave from Zuul? Why is it necessary for the mayor and council to have “secret meetings”? What are they trying to hide?

This whole thing has been mishandled from the beginning, It has put the Salisbury Police Department, mayor and city in a bad light.

Remember, the police chief has the final say on termination of the “handler” no matter what the investigation results are. Let’s pray he does the proper thing.

— Gary Holder

Harrisburg