6 days ago
Outrage as cop who was accused of torturing K-9 dog lands new job as a sheriff's deputy
A North Carolina sheriff's office has been slammed after hiring a deputy who resigned from another department after he was accused of torturing a police K-9 dog.
Deputy James Hampton quit the Salisbury Police Department in 2021 after viral footage appeared to show him dangling a police dog named Zuul by its leash, slamming it against a patrol car and hitting it.
The incident, which was filmed during a training session, sparked nationwide outrage at the time.
More than 93,000 people signed the petition demanding his termination.
WCNC revealed that Hampton was quietly sworn in last month as a deputy for the Union County Sheriff's Office.
The move has angered activists, the public and local residents.
'There is no scenario where hitting, slamming and choking a dog is called for,' Rachel Bellis of PETA told the outlet. 'You can see the other officers scrambling to turn off their cameras. I'm sure they must've known that this was not the correct behavior to have with that dog.'
Union County resident Angel Thompson said she is concerned about the agency's hiring standards: '[It] makes me question a lot of things. If you're going to hire somebody like that, what kind of other stuff are you willing to overlook. It's a stressful thing.'
has reached out to the Union County Sheriff's Office for comment.
There had been no response at the time of writing.
In 2021 the Salisbury Police Department shared in a press release that Officer Hampton had tendered his resignation before the department formalized any potential disciplinary action against him.
The department announced that it was naming Hampton in a bid 'to restore and maintain the public confidence that has been detrimentally affected by this incident.'
An 'extensive investigation' was conducted at the time by the US ISS Agency, a third-party watchdog, which determined that Hampton acted in 'a manner entirely inconsistent with his K-9 training and had violated police department policy.'
The agency recommended that Hampton be terminated. A due process hearing did take place for the officer before he submitted his resignation.
The department added then that it will continue to review and make changes to their k-9 training operations, policies and procedures.
Footage of the incident, which is almost a minute long, shows the dog exit the car and get immediately scolded by the handler.
The officer then puts the leash on the dog before picking it up and dragging the German Shepherd over his shoulder. He proceeds to slam the dog into the side of the patrol car before putting the K-9 inside the vehicle.
'We're good, no witnesses,' the man says with a chuckle before repeatedly inquiring whether the other officers at the scene have their cameras on.
At one point in the clip it appears that the officer strikes the dog.
