When the two men ran from their rural Arlington trailer home into thick woods this month, Snohomish County sheriff's Deputies Joe Dunn and Adam Malaby called for backup.

Stryker arrived and tore into the woods, and minutes later the men came running out — yelping as the 8-year-old German shepherd bit into their skin.

Scouring the most rural parts of the county in search of missing people and fleeing suspects can be a tough task. Thick vegetation, rocky terrain and water make it difficult for the average deputy. If not for police dogs, it's doubtful many could be tracked, Sheriff Rick Bart said.

But over the past five years, Bart said, he has had to argue with County Council members and some people on his staff who have suggested cutting the canine program because of the litigation costs associated with dog bites.

Bart said he expects to again meet with council members in the coming days to talk about the future of the canine program. Bart said he has had an e-mail exchange with Councilman Kirke Sievers, D-Everett, since Monday. Sievers couldn't be reached for comment on the issue.

Rick Bart

"The program keeps coming to the top because it's viewed as something extra by a lot of people. The bottom line for a lot of people, especially in the prosecutor's office, is it's a high liability," Bart said. "It's important enough that it shouldn't be cut. As long as I'm the sheriff here, we'll have a canine program here.

"To maintain our protection against liability, we have to train a lot. It costs a lot of money to train. We've tried to cut down on [overtime pay] by using other agencies' dogs when ours aren't on duty."

Deputy Jim Gibson, who has been Stryker's handler since the dog was brought on seven years ago, said there never has been a successful suit filed against the department for Stryker making "a bad bite." Over the past five years, the county has paid out $420,000 in two civil settlements over bites by Sheriff's Office dogs.

In February 2000, the county paid a convicted burglar $412,000 after he was bitten by a police dog. The dog, Yukon, attacked Mincio Donciev, known as the "Mountain Man," in March 1998. Donciev stabbed the dog with a pole and fought with officers while reaching for two handguns. During the struggle, Yukon bit off part of Donciev's left foot.

Donciev later pleaded guilty to burglarizing three cabins along the Stillaguamish River. Yukon was retired after the attack and became a house pet for a dog handler who works for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in northern British Columbia.

"If the Yukon incident were to have taken place today, we would have done the same darned thing as we did," said Bart. "We felt we had a trainable dog."

Though the potential civil liability of having police dogs can be expensive, Bart said the daily maintenance of the dogs is mostly free. The dogs live with their handlers; their food and most vet bills are donated, he said.

King County sheriff's Deputy Zbig Kasprzyk, a master trainer with the Washington State Police Canine Association, said it's vital for sheriff's offices to have a canine division because they are often asked to assist small police departments that don't have dogs.

"It's an incredible tool to help us catch bad guys," said Kasprzyk. "It's far better than anything else we have."

Though experts say it's rare for police dogs to bite suspects without provocation, an Edmonds police dog was put to death after it bit five innocent people. Nico, an 8-year-old German shepherd, was quarantined after biting a jogger and was put down in November 2003 after veterinarians told police he was likely to bite again.

"Police dogs can be a valuable tool," said Edmonds attorney Joe Bennett, who is representing two of Nico's victims in their civil cases against the city. "It's critically important dog handlers are adequately trained."

Snohomish County sheriff's Deputy Scotty Parker, who has been a canine officer for six years, said that even though the program has shrunk the past two years — from four to three dogs and from 10 hours of training each week to 20 hours a month — "the necessity for canine is there."

"We have an obligation to catch these crooks and put them in jail," said Parker, who has a German shepherd named Dygon. "Canines are an alternative to the use of deadly force."

Parker said suspects are more fearful of the dogs than of deputies. He can't say how many times a person surrenders when they see a police dog, but it's numerous.

"Is there potential for something happening? Yeah, sure there is," said Parker. "[But] the likelihood is low because the dogs are trained to discriminate the crook's scent from other people."

Jennifer Sullivan: 425-783-0604 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com