LA City Council blocks K9 donation from Inland Empire training company that shares name with Hitler bunker
A donation of two police service dogs donated to the Los Angeles Police Department was rejected by city council members on Tuesday after concerns arose about the Inland Empire-based company that trained the animals.
Councilman Bob Blumenfield voiced his issues with the Jurupa Valley company called Adlerhorst International that trained the dogs.
"I don't have a problem with donating dogs to the police. That's not an issue," Blumenfield said. "But what I'm concerned about is that this company, called Adlerhorst International, is the name of the Nazi bunker used by Adolf Hitler during World War II."
Before addressing the topic, Blumenfield says he searched online to see if there was an alternative meaning to the name, but did not find anything.
"To me, this company is a company that is glorifying Hitler's Nazi bunker, and it's a company that is dealing with German Shepherds, of which there's all that history with the Holocaust," Blumenfield said.
Michael Reaver, the current owner of Adlerhorst International, says that his father didn't realize the connotation when he started out in the 1970s, and that he used the name of the kennel he purchased his first dog from in Germany.
"There is absolutely zero consideration for anything Nazi here in Jurupa Valley," Reaver said, noting that both he and his father are veterans. "My father is a veteran in the Army and Air Force. He served six years. I was a veteran in the Army, five deployments — Iraq to Afghanistan."
He says that dozens of dogs are trained there annually, and that they partner with hundreds of law enforcement agencies on the West Coast. K-9 Cairo, the famous member of Seal Team 6 that captured Osama Bin Laden, also trained at their facility.
Blumenfield, who was supported by colleagues, asking the Los Angeles Police Foundation to report on where the dogs come from and the donation was sent back to the City Council's Public Safety Committee.
"I don't know that's the intent of this company, but in reality it's a creepy name that shouldn't be associated with a company like this. They've had plenty of time to deal with it, and I can't support doing business with a company that's glorifying Hitler's bunker," he said.
When asked why they never changed the company's name, even after being told it was offensive, Reaver offered a simple answer.
"We don't think about bunkers in Nazi Germany, we think about the bloodline of dogs that he worked with, that he was proud of," he said.
Blumenfield issued a statement to KCAL News upon request, which said:
"If a company's name glorifies the title of one of Hitler's bunkers, I don't think the City of Los Angeles should be doing business with them. I'm confident our city can get trained service K-9s with a company that doesn't reference Hitler."
The Board of Police Commissioners approved a transmittal for the acceptance of two dogs for the Metropolitan Division's K-9 Platoon in March, which were intended to replace a different pair that have retired from the program due to age and health concerns. The new dogs are estimated to be worth a total value of $26,900.
The Los Angeles Police Foundation is an independent nonprofit organization that helps to provide funding and support to the department.
In German, Adlerhorst means "Eagle's Nest." It was a bunker complex built in the Bavarian Alps which doubled as Hitler's command post in late-1944 through early-1945.
