Meet the Beagles who search for smuggled goods at Atlanta’s Hartsfield Jackson Airport.
Customs and Border Protection uses Beagles for a couple of reasons: they are not as intimidating as other K-9s like German Shepherds, and they eat less than the larger dogs. Each Beagle goes through a training period of 10-weeks with the paired handler. During the training, handlers become familiar with the dog before they are put to work at their respective port of entry. Each pup can find various plants, meats, fruits and vegetables, and the training doesn’t stop once they are certified. These canines and their handlers have to recertify every year.
Retirement age is about 9 years old, although because they use exclusively rescues, they really don’t know how old the dogs are. The biggest criterion is whether or not they retain their motivation to work for food rewards. (I could still be working at age 58!)
“K-9 Stella” is a three-year-old Bloodhound working for the Tallahassee Police Department Special Victims Unit as a Scent Evidence K-9 with her handler, Paul Coley, CEO of Scent Evidence K-9 and former FBI Forensic Canine Operations Specialist. Stella and Coley have been working cases for their department as well as several federal, state, and local agencies for the past two years.
Along with her handler, Stella has worked multiple missing persons cases involving people affected with Alzheimer’s or Dementia wandering off. Stella has an impressive record of confirmed trails leading to the recovery of missing persons in the Florida panhandle. In addition to her work bringing missing persons home, Stella is an essential resource for the Tallahassee Police Department Special Victims Unit, assisting with several criminal apprehensions and is even credited with the apprehension of two double homicide suspects. Continue reading 2020 AKC Humane Fund ACE Winner: Uniformed Service K-9 / Stella the Bloodhound→
Massillon police officer Miguel Riccio reacts while carrying the ashes of his K-9 Inca during a remembrance for the police dog at Duncan Plaza in Massillon on Wednesday, June 3, 2020.
Massillon, the next town over from me, recently held a memorial following the death of K9 Inca.
If you follow this blog fairly regularly, you know I have a soft spot for dogs and veterans. The US House of Representatives has now passed a resolution (#4305) that includes both. Here’s the bill summary from the congressional website:
Puppies Assisting Wounded Service Members for Veterans Therapy Act or the PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act
This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to implement a pilot program to assess the effectiveness of addressing post-deployment mental health and post-traumatic stress disorder through a method where veterans train service dogs for veterans with disabilities.
Read the full text, if you’d like, then call your Senators and ask them to make sure the bill comes up for a vote in the Senate.
Let’s get this bill passed, as it helps both the dogs and the vets.
You gotta love a story with a happy ending. WBTW, Channel 13 in Myrtle Beach, recently brought us the story of Lalo, a Bloodhound who was instrumental in reuniting a family when the K-9 found a 9-year old who had wandered off to a friend’s house without telling anyone.
Lalo’s partner, Deputy Timothy Davidson, says the dog gets quite the workout as they have similar situations crop up almost weekly.
Great job Lalo and Deputy Davidson! Thank you both for your service.
Judy was the mascot of several ships in the Pacific. She was captured by the Japanese in 1942 and taken to a prison camp. There she met Leading Aircraftsman Frank Williams who shared his small portion of rice with her. Judy raised morale in the POW camp giving alarm when poisonous snakes, crocodiles and even tigers approached. She was smuggled out in a rice sack when the prisoners were shipped back to Singapore. She never whimpered or betrayed her presence to the guards. The next day, the ship was torpedoed. Williams pushed Judy out of a porthole in an attempt to save her life, even though there was a 15 feet drop to the sea. He made his own escape from the ship, not knowing if Judy had survived. Continue reading The Story of Judy→
The Brimfield K-9 Corps, circa 2014From the Brimfield, Ohio, Police Department: It is with sadness today that we announce the passing of retired Brimfield Police Department K-9 Joker. Joker’s end of watch was July 28, 2019.
Joker was born on July 23, 2006 and served with Captain Christopher Adkins. Joker served our Brimfield community until his retirement on September 21, 2013. Together, they had 374 deployments together, with numerous drug seizures, including some of the largest ones assisting Tallmadge PD. Joker received his first state certification at 6 months old, and maintained both state and national certifications throughout his career. Continue reading RIP K-9 Joker→
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