Lawyer says Ohio city's police chief, police dog have degree from same school

FOSTORIA, Ohio -- The city's police chief and police dog have degrees from the same online school, according to a defense lawyer challenging the chief's authority.

The issue gives "one pause, if not paws, for concern" about what it takes to get a degree from the school, based in the Caribbean, Gene Murray wrote Monday in a motion seeking to have the dog introduced as evidence.

Chief John McGuire and Rocko -- listed as John I. Rocko on his diploma -- are graduates of Concordia College and University, according to copies of diplomas that are part of Murray's motion.

Murray didn't say how he knows the criminal justice degree is for the dog or how Rocko supposedly enrolled in the college.

A woman who responded to an e-mail from The Associated Press Thursday listed on what appeared to be the school's Web site said that the college is legitimate and that no alumnus named Rocko was listed in its database. The woman, Elizabeth C. Marley, said the diplomas may have been issued by someone operating a spoof of the school's site.

However, the woman would not provide a phone number, and it could not be confirmed that she was a spokeswoman or representative for the school.

Dean Henry, McGuire's lawyer, said the department had the dog before McGuire was hired.

"My client had absolutely nothing to do with any animal getting a degree from an institution of higher learning," Henry said. "The whole thing is bizarre."

City leaders have said McGuire's hiring was not influenced by his college degree, and any confusion about his background was resolved during interviews.