Who Let the Past Out?

By Vii Padron

You’ve probably included a white lie on a resume, college application, or online dating profile. Of course, though we all know that we shouldn’t be fabricating these, it still happens. But a criminal background check is no place for white lies.  

Following September 10th, a firearm protection dog was appointed in order to keep our school safe and was regarded by students to be the most effective precaution taken. This dog, Oak, and his handler came from the Byers K-9 Firearms Protection Program. It was later discovered that Oak’s human had failed to report a past event from his life- an event serious enough to make it a violation of the Criminal Record Certification in his contract. He was terminated from service at EHS for failure to self-report- a system that required reform in a time of heightened safety. The new K-9 vendor was asked to also fulfill a Jeffco background check, instead of relying on the honor system. 

In addition to that offense, students in Evergreen High School noticed his horrific judgment in the treatment of his dog. August Geerdes, a dog owner himself, said that he noticed the K-9 was “lifting his paws and walking weirdly, as if from pain, when walking on the sidewalks.” It would later be concluded that the ice melt salt used on the steps outside EHS contained a harmful chemical that burns Oak's paws. Pet friendly ice melt does exist, but EHS doesn’t have it on hand, so falls the responsibility to the handler. He should have recognized that this was not pet-friendly salt and countered it by having Oak wear boots, instead of forcing him to stay on the harmful substance. It was evident that the handler did not care- for his past legal issue, the dog's health, or even quite possibly the health and safety of students.  

 Photo from Byers K9 Services Instagram.