A guard dog protects customers at Home Depot

Home Depot in New York State has deployed a guard dog to protect customers from aggressive shoplifters and some immigrants who are hassling customers in the store's parking lot.

This is what the New York Post reported. Last Tuesday, two men wearing bulletproof vests were accompanied by a German Shepherd as they patrolled a Home Depot store in New Rochelle, about 30 kilometers north of New York City.

“The goal is to ensure presence in this sector,” one man said. “It's not like we're letting them bite anyone or anything.”

“We were not only hired because of immigrants, but also because of several other things, like people breaking into cars.”

Several trips

When a journalist from the Big Apple visited the area daily, it was quiet. However, about ten kilometers away, at another Home Depot located in the Bronx, about thirty people were loitering outside the store.

Home Depot often receives complaints from customers regarding theft of cell phones or wallets, according to one employee.

“If you go out as a single woman, they literally throw themselves at your cart,” she said. “One time I was coming to work and there must have been a hundred guys hanging around.”

Home Depot spokeswoman Margaret Smith said the company prohibits loitering and solicitation in its stores and regularly works with law enforcement. The security procedures followed were not specified.