Harrisburg police are on the hunt for "rogue officers" in the department who the police chief believes are leaking information to the media about his inability to manage the city's stray-dog crisis.

Police Chief Pierre Ritter said at a news conference Wednesday morning that he has launched an internal affairs investigation into the leaks.

"We do internal investigations on officers that leak information to the news media” because it violates official policy, Ritter said.

On Tuesday, The Patriot-News quoted sources close to the city as saying the police department’s controversial policy on stray dogs was still in effect, despite officials’ claims to the contrary. The policy authorizes officers to shoot dogs if they can’t find someone to adopt them or to drop them outside of the city.

The city has scrambled to find a place to keep strays as it attempts to finalize a contract with the Humane Society of Harrisburg Area Inc. The agency terminated services last year because the city was behind in payments.

Ritter said punishment for such “rogue officers” — if any are found — will be at his discretion, but could range from a suspension of several days to termination.

Several members of City Council decried the investigation.

Councilwoman Patty Kim said she thought the officer who leaked the memo outlining the stray-dog policy should not be hunted and punished, but rather “lauded — for possibly preventing stray dogs from being inhumanely exterminated.”

Kim added that she thought there was “an internal leadership problem with the police department.”

“Officers don’t feel comfortable going to leadership first,” Kim said. “There’s no trust.”

Councilman Brad Koplinski said the police bureau “has better things to do than go on a witch hunt to find whistleblowers who are trying to do the right thing.”

While police officers might or might not be nervous, the news for dogs is good.

Zella Anderson, founder of the rescue group Central Pennsylvania Animal Alliance, confirmed that a temporary kennel has been established at the city’s vehicle-maintenance center on South Cameron Street.

She said a sympathetic police officer donated more than $600 worth of kennel equipment to the city, and CPAA volunteers and donors have supplied food, water, toys and bedding.

Anderson said she is also making arrangements with local veterinarians to be on call if any strays are taken to the facility.

That ends a week of wildly divergent kennel claims from the city.

Ritter faced terse questioning at a City Council meeting Tuesday night.

Koplinski asked him about a mayor’s office news release claiming police had “moved a temporary animal shelter from the police garage ... to a larger facility on City Island.”

But it hadn’t.

The Patriot-News quoted Anderson as saying the kennel had not been moved to City Island, but rather dismantled and taken away on Ritter’s orders. City spokesman Robert Philbin subsequently said dogs would be kept in a horse stall.

Ritter told Koplinski the media are “too anxious about getting information on this without giving the police department the opportunity to think things out and plan.”

He said, “They’re so anxious to report things out, a lot of miscommunication is getting out.”

Koplinski noted the misinformation had come in the form of a city news release.

Ritter then turned to the problem of “rogue officers,” saying “as soon as we write something, they give it out to the news media — it’s misinformation.”

Those words came back to Ritter at the news conference Wednesday morning. Roxbury News asked Ritter if he would take “any responsibility for this administration’s failing” — rather than blaming the media and “rogue officers.”

Ritter replied, “Those might have been my words, but what I’m saying is there is information that is within the police department that is getting out to the media that is incorrect. It is not coming from the chief’s office. It is not coming from the mayor’s office.”

Philbin defended the city’s statements on the temporary kennel as “absolutely accurate.”

Philbin said, “The process of locating temporary facilities for strays was in process throughout the weekend.

“Everything that I said over the weekend was absolutely accurate when I said it,” he said.

Philbin emphasized that, “Nobody’s faulting the media in this at all. Everybody’s doing the best job they can do to make sure that accurate information flows out to the public. That’s what we’re all about here.

“What a leak does,” he said, “is muddies the water and confuses the public as we’ve seen through the weekend. ... So, a bit of discretion is advised when you’re dealing with rumors or sources that maybe aren’t verified.”

“I don’t think anybody’s blaming anybody at this point,” Philbin said.

The Patriot-News noted the city is now investigating people to blame.

“Well,” Philbin said, “that’s a matter for...” and he gestured toward Ritter.