r/interestingasfuck • u/Alarming-Studio-720 • 1d ago

Utah police dog survives injury after leaping from overpass

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u/rachelsqueak 1d ago

Dog has better healthcare than most Americans. I am glad he's okay, though

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u/Little_SmallBlackDog 1d ago edited 8h ago

It's less healthcare in this case amd more asset management. Canine units are expensive. A new bite dog cost around $30k to $50k depending on location and training (this range is based on my last canine unit patient from around the early 2020s-it's been a while since I left the vet med field. It's very likely that the cost has increased). To be fair, I'm not sure of the sniffer dog's cost. I only about bite dog's cost after asking about the level of care they receive.

This is an observation based on my time in vet med working with police pups. For example, root canals and crowns are possible in dogs. The only dogs that I witnessed receiving this very expensive care were canine units. Their teeth are treated as an asset. Fixing the issue is more cost effective than purchasing and training a new dog.

Edit to add #1: The guy in the video may be the handler and not the owner. The difference is that if the guy quits the force the dog goes to a different handler. When police dogs retire the handlers do have the option of adopting them in my experience. This happened with a sniffer dog that was shot multiple times (head wounds that affected his nasal passages and a badly broken front leg). He survived but his injuries were significant enough to medically retire him. His handler was very bonded to him and happily adopted him.

Edit to add #2: Y'all. No where in this comment did I claim to be an expert on this. I am only sharing personal experience from caring for canine units as patients. The information above is based on somewhat brief interactions with local law enforcement that were willing to answer my curiousity questions. I am certainly not an expert on this nor am I associated with law enforcement in any way.

Rather than arguing with me, please share your own experiences and info. This has the potential to be a rad info exchange.

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u/DateMasamusubi 23h ago

The average American contributes $95,000/year on average and assuming 40 years of working, that is $3.8 million. The fact that Americans don't have universal healthcare like every other developed nation is a travesty and reflection of their societal values or lack thereof.

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u/Little_SmallBlackDog 20h ago

Agreed. There's a self responsibility assumption for humans in America. That's one of the reasons America doesn't have universal healthcare. I don't agree with it. I'm just adding a perspective.