PART III.  INSTRUMENTS OF FORCE In general: • Only trained dogs should be used in combination with their handler. • Dogs may only be used by a qualified dog handler who bears ultimate responsibility. • Using an unmuzzled dog should be placed at the higher end of the scale of force and should only be used in specific prescribed situations.181 • The decision to deploy a dog, and its reasons, as well as the outcomes, should always be recorded. Untrained dogs should never be used, nor should dogs be handled by officers who have not been trained for that task. Use of horses during assemblies182 Horses are useful for keeping an overview, monitoring  crowd dynamics and making contact with people on the ground. They are also useful for closing off events. As horses are generally quite intimidating, people tend to comply with instructions given. It is essential that the capabilities and limitations of horses as a force option are fully understood prior to their use. Separate authorization should be sought before horses are deployed and advice should be sought from the mounted public order commander. Their deployment should be in accordance with the tactical plan. Horses can be used to charge a group of violent people and disperse them, where the horse rider may use a baton, and can support other officers who are on foot, but the horse is not meant to ride over people, as that can obviously be extremely dangerous. Foot officers need to be trained when deployed with mounted police. There must be escape routes for the crowds. Whether the deployment of horses is useful depends on the situation, the terrain and also the type of violence encountered. The deployment of horses is not always appropriate on safety grounds. As in all cases involving the use of animals, their welfare and protection also must be ensured. HUMAN RIGHTS PERSPECTIVES ON THE USE OF DOGS AND HORSES In its Manual on Human Rights and Law Enforcement,a OHCHR has raised several human rights concerns regarding the use of dogs and horses, in particular in a crowd control context. For example, it pointed to several studies indicating the high number of permanent and serious injuries caused by dog bites, often with major medical complications. It also referred to a study indicating that the employment of dogs in use-offorce situations in some agencies had increased the risk of injury by almost 40 times compared to other less-lethal methods. Another concern raised was the need to use canine units in a culturally sensitive manner. In some cultures or religions, dogs are considered to be unclean, which must be kept in mind when using them to facilitate an assembly of such communities. 181  182  See United States Institute of Peace, Draft Model Police Powers Act, 2008. See College of Policing, Tactical options, 2014. 85