Is Auburn the new Birmingham?

The dog, which is one of the cop's weapons, accidentally went off and hurt somebody. The cop should go down for assault with a deadly weapon, felony battery, and reckless endangerment.

I am a student at Auburn, I was at the game on Saturday and saw the incident. I agree with you that it was totally inappropriate and inexcusable for the dog to bite someone on the field, I hope that there were consequences for the handler and that the dog will be removed from service until it undergoes more training.

I agree with you on all of that, but I strongly, strongly disagree with your suggestion about the character of Auburn's citizens and students. I have lived here for 2.5 years, and I am being neither defensive nor naive when I say that race relations here are extremely positive. Yes, I am sure there are bigots here, can you name a city without them? On campus, on the street, etc I have never observed any disrespect given to anyone of any race. Again, I'm sure it does happen (and it is NEVER ok when it does), but not to a degree significantly higher than other places. We have relatively high populations of foreign students of many ethnicities, and they are not treated as second-class citizens, they are treated as the valuable contributors to our university that they are. I cannot recall a single instance of ever hearing a racial slur or seeing. Have you ever been to Auburn? I would be interested to hear what personal experiences you have to support your suggestions about it besides a You Tube video and the fact that the school happens to be located south of the Mason-Dixon.

I don't claim that Auburn is a utopia where no prejudice exists, but I would not believe that about any city. Auburn has a reputation as being an extremely friendly city (there are frequently letters in the paper from visiting fans from other states complimenting our hospitality), and that reputation is deserved.

Please do not project an incident resulting from the faulty temperament of an animal onto the integrity and character of the entire school or city.

Hold on there war eagle. It's good to hear that Auburn is more of a multicultural haven that Birmingham c.1964. I would be worried if it weren't. That said, I didn't mean to imply that there are any major racial problems in Auburn. It's just that the first thing that came to my mind when I saw a german shepherd attacking a black guy in alabama was that iconic photo -- that, and what the fuck are those dogs doing right next to the field (yes, I realize they're there to prevent people from storming the field after one insignificant SEC team beats another, but they're damn close to the sideline!).

Sorry if I came off a little strong (and I am impressed that you know the "war eagle", it's a point of confusion for some people as to whether our mascot is the tiger or the eagle!). I'm not from Alabama originally, and to be quite honest didn't know what to expect when I moved here for school, but I have really found the town to be a great place to live, the entire atmosphere is very pleasant and congenial.

I completely agree with you about having the dogs on the sidelines, I've noticed this at previous games. There are always many people on the field's edge (band members, cheerleaders, tv crews, and kids also). What if it had been a child instead of the football player's arm that startled the dog? I own a German shepherd, and he is the sweetest, most stable-tempered animal I've ever met. Despite being abused in a former life, I've never heard the dog growl in the 2.5 years I've had him....but I still wouldn't feel comfortable having him in the chaos down on the field like that, especially right behind the goalposts in the face of a mob of 300+ pound guys barreling into the end zone...I hope this will cause them to re-evaluate the security canine procedures.