Parastoo Anoushahpour, Faraz Anoushahpour, and Ryan Ferko

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Contains Flashing Imagery

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Electrocuting the Elephant The Hour of the Pig The People v. The Cock of Basel

Canine units and their service dogs are a leading cause of violence and injury in most police jurisdictions across North America. Despite this prevalence, violence related to dogs remains under-reported and under-regulated, largely stemming from their legal classification as "intermediate weapons." In cases of harm inflicted upon citizens, this classification splits legal responsibility between the handler and the animal, rarely finding officers accountable while promoting the use of dogs over other types of weapons.

Simultaneously, through school appearances, holiday calendars, and social media channels, these same dogs are used to neutralize the violent reality of police departments. Bite & Hold contests this manipulated public image, placing an archive of canine unit Christmas cards in relation to the direct violence officers use their dogs for. Filmed from a distance in various public spaces, the daily life of the city passes in front of and behind these images, either obscuring their surface or momentarily turning them from negative abstractions into moments of clarity. The language of witnessing, testimony, and description add a final, silent layer to these images, returning them to their violent reality.

This Video contains Flashing Imagery

Image description: Three German Shephards sit in the lower left of the frame on a black stage floor with artificial lighting. To the right of one of the dogs is a red sledge hammer, and the leather boots of an unseen person. The rest of the scene is obscured by a blurred figure passing in front of the image.

CREDITS

Image, Editing, Sound: Parastoo Anoushahpour, Faraz Anoushahpour, Ryan Ferko

Image descriptive captions: Marina Fathalla

Additional text: Dennis v. City of Vancouver, 200, British Columbia Provincial Court (BCPC) 082:
https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcpc/doc/2000/2000bcpc82/2000bcpc82.html

Images & videos sources in order of appearance:

Pool Party. Digital photograph, Edmonton Police Service Annual Canine Unit Photo, 1984:
https://www.edmontonpolice.ca/CommunityPolicing/OperationalServices/Canine/ChristmasCards

Ninja Turtle. Digital photograph, Edmonton Police Service Annual Canine Unit Photo, 1991:
https://www.edmontonpolice.ca/CommunityPolicing/OperationalServices/Canine/ChristmasCards

Edmonton Police Service Canine Unit [@epscanine]. “Day one for our decoy seminar with @grassrootsk9. Thx for coming out this way
@k9_mike #workingk9 #psdAmok.” Instagram post, June 4, 2019:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/ByTITEXgq-o/

Edmonton Police Service Canine Unit [@epscanine]. “can u say Focus... there is a lot of value to the down. First capping rep.
#psdGando #tiredQuarry @alabamak9.” Instagram post, April 14, 2021:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CNo3HpbgIhQ/

Edmonton Police Service Canine Unit [@epscanine]. “#DMTC2021 is back in business. Continuing to work on obedience and control. Ppsd Zeus working for food and rewarded in place.
#buildingBlocks #week5 #springfinallyhere @majesticmalinois.” Instagram post, May 4, 2021:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/COd2Wj3hd9_/

Edmonton Police Service Canine Unit [@epscanine]. “Punching into the leg bite with #psdMyke @lethbridgepolice #@grassrootsk9 @k9_mike.” Instagram post, June 4, 2019:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/ByTXyUnAWbP/

Stars. Digital photograph, Edmonton Police Service Annual Canine Unit Photo, 1994:
https://www.edmontonpolice.ca/CommunityPolicing/OperationalServices/Canine/ChristmasCards

Poker. Digital photograph, Edmonton Police Service Annual Canine Unit Photo, 1980:
https://www.edmontonpolice.ca/CommunityPolicing/OperationalServices/Canine/ChristmasCards

Camping. Digital photograph, Edmonton Police Service Annual Canine Unit Photo, 1985:
https://www.edmontonpolice.ca/CommunityPolicing/OperationalServices/Canine/ChristmasCards

Edmonton Police Service Canine Unit [@epscanine]. “DMTC Week 6 #PPSDZeus says thanks for the rain Mother Nature! Tracking is hard enough, we will take all the help we can get!.” Instagram post, May 10, 2021:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/COtdoB2AAu7/

Edmonton Police Service Canine Unit [@epscanine]. “Local eagle in the area sent us this footage of PPSD Duco’s track from last week. How do they do that ?.” Instagram post, May 5, 2020:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B_0j6OhANP_/

Police Car. Digital photograph, Edmonton Police Service Annual Canine Unit Photo, 1995:
https://www.edmontonpolice.ca/CommunityPolicing/OperationalServices/Canine/ChristmasCards

“Pictures of Scott’s wounds show the puncture hole where the police dog’s teeth entered his torso.” Digital photograph, Moving to Minimum Force: Police Dogs & Public Safety in British Columbia, Pivot Legal Society, Vancouver 2014, pg 14:
https://www.pivotlegal.org/moving_to_minimum_force_police_dogs_and_public_safety_in_british_columbiab

“Photos of the injuries to Chris’s right leg, taken by Chris at the hospital, show the capability of a police dog to cause severe injury.” Digital photograph, Moving to Minimum Force: Police Dogs & Public Safety in British Columbia, Pivot Legal Society, Vancouver 2014, pg 21:
https://www.pivotlegal.org/moving_to_minimum_force_police_dogs_and_public_safety_in_british_columbiab

Yukon Schutzhund Association. BH PATTERN WITH DOUG BEACON. Hillary and her "dog" Andre demonstrate BH exercise 1 pattern, with Doug Deacon instructing. Facebook post, July 27, 2017:
https://www.facebook.com/yukonysa/videos/bh-pattern-with-doug-deacon/1093373497473978/

Tools. Digital photograph, Edmonton Police Service Annual Canine Unit Photo, 1989:
https://www.edmontonpolice.ca/CommunityPolicing/OperationalServices/Canine/ChristmasCards

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This project is indebted to the legal advocacy and reporting of Pivot Legal Society, in Vancouver, and their report Moving to Minimum Force: Police Dogs and Public Safety in British Columbia, which can be read in full here.

Special thank you to Caitlin Shane, Sharlene Bamboat, Alexis Mitchell, and Aamna Muzaffar

Produced with support from Bamboat | Mitchell and the Canada Council for the Arts.

Bite & Hold