A police dog to remember

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This article was published 31/01/2015 (4067 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Police service dog Judge, who is being remembered as one of the most successful dogs in the history of the Winnipeg Police Service K9 Unit, died Friday of kidney failure.

He was 11.

Born June 18, 2003, into the WPS breeding program, Judge, a Belgian Malinois, began training with his handler, Patrol Sgt. Scott Taylor in 2004, when he joined the force.

Over the next decade, until retiring from service in April 2014, Taylor and Judge registered more than 500 arrests, “making them the most successful K9 team in Winnipeg, if not all of Canada,” read a WPS statement released Friday.

“Judge was the greatest,” said K9 Unit Sgt. David Bessason. “Both him and Scotty, they meshed as a team. They both had the same work ethic. I don’t think we’ll see a team like that again. They were one in a million.

“What I thought was impossible, they were doing every day.”

The Winnipeg K9 unit consists of 10 working officer-dog teams.

At Judge’s retirement last spring, Taylor told the Free Press: “It’s going to be hard for him to see me go (out) every day, and it’s going to be hard for me not to take him. He’s been a super dog to me.”

Taylor is now a Detective Sgt. in the homicide division.

Judge is survived by 42 pups, including 23 — mostly female — who are working service dogs in Canada and the U.S. Nine of his “grandpuppies” are service dogs, too. “We’ve got three generations going,” Bessason said.

In fact, earlier in Judge’s career, due to his superior tracking skills and instincts, the canine officers took the dog’s semen samples, of which there are several remaining for breeding purposes. “We have enough to last us 10 years,” Bessason said. “His legacy will live on.”

A memorial service will be held for Judge Feb. 18. Bessason is expecting between 50 and 100 officers to attend. Donations in Judge’s memory can be made to the Winnipeg Police Service Retirement Vest Fund, which can be made though the K9 unit page on the WPS website. Along with raising money for ballistic vests and medical bills, officers hope the fund can soon provide funeral and burial costs for both active and retired police dogs.

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca

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