It’s a wonder why Gene Hackman’s dog was misidentified by police, who confused an Australian kelpie for a German shepherd. Initial reports filed by authorities said that the dead dog found in a crate close to the body of Hackman’s wife, Betsy Arakawa, was a German shepherd named Bear. But USA Today reports that the dog who passed was actually a 12-year-old reddish kelpie mix named Zinfindel (or Zinna), which casts doubt on the accuracy of the investigation into the deaths of Hackman and Arakawa. Here’s why the mistake on the dog’s breed happened.
Why did police misidentify Gene Hackman’s dead dog?
The reason police misidentified Gene Hackman’s dead dog was because the deputies who were initially at the scene “do not deal with canines on a daily basis,” according to Denise Womack-Avila, a spokeswoman for the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
In the affidavit for a search warrant, investigators initially said that it had “found a deceased brown in color German-Shepard (sic) canine.” They also discovered that the couple’s other two dogs had survived, a 7-year-old Akita-shepherd mix named Nikita (or Nikki) who was in the backyard and the German shepherd Bear who was also close to Arakawa’s body. This report led friends of the couple to believe that Bear had passed, leading to confusion.
Looking at a picture of Zinna (as shown by USA Today), her brown coat coloring is close a German shepherd’s, which is typically black and brown. Since Bear was also discovered near Arakawa’s body, it might have led to the misidentification of Zinna as a German shepherd too. Also, one of the most popular breeds for police dogs, or K-9s, are German Shepherds. as noted by the National Police Dog Foundation, so knowledge of this breed is known by law enforcement.
The two surviving dogs are “safe and adjusting,” according to Joey Padilla, the owner of Sante Fe Tails, per ABC News. Padilla said, “I will be holding on to them until I get word on what Betsy’s wishes for these dogs are.”
