Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, August 24, 1993                   TAG: 9308240202
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: GLOUCESTER                                LENGTH: Medium

BITTEN MAN WANTS DOG ANYWAY

"I know he's not a bad dog," Carlton Belcher, 18, a Middlesex County kennel worker, said of the dog Black Jack, who bit Belcher in April. The bite caused Belcher to get a tetanus shot, but he said he still would like to buy the animal.

Black Jack was taken to Richmond last week for evaluation after Gloucester County animal control authorities cited the dog as dangerous for biting three people in less than eight months.

The county's action followed a complaint by Eileen Shea, whose 8-year-old daughter was bitten by Black Jack last month in the neighborhood shared by the Sheas and Black Jack's handler, Trooper Steve Gentry.

Gentry, who kept the dog in a kennel at his home, described the Shea biting as "a freak accident" but declined to discuss details. He said the dog had not yet been trained when it attacked and bit a 13-year-old girl riding on a bicycle in October.

Black Jack had a reputation for being too aggressive before he was given to the state police last fall. But after training for patrol work, he demonstrated phenomenal ability, Gentry said.

"His potential had not even been scratched, what he was capable of locating and doing. He was just a rookie," the trooper said.

Lt. Terry Singleton of the Gloucester County Sheriff's Department said Black Jack has worked about a half-dozen missions in the county, both as a tracker and an attack dog.

"We've never had any problems. The dog was always in total compliance with anything Steve wanted him to do," Singleton said.

Capt. Don Martin, the state police training supervisor, declined to say what action has been recommended for Black Jack. But he said it was rare that a dog would be ordered destroyed for reasons other than ill health or injury.

More likely options include reassignment to another location or retirement.

Maj. John Scott, assistant supervisor of field operations, said Black Jack's fate probably would be decided this week.