Police mourn ‘devastating’ loss of two service dogs
 

Does anyone know any more about this? What illness did they die from? The same illness for each? If so, is that a terrible coincidence? Or should we be told something more? Anybody else find this a mite disturbing?

Poor pups, it would have been nice for them to reach the time when they get to retire with their families. I think that's what happens. Did with our friend's detector dog. Today's Star has a picture of both and the one of Keno shows him getting belly rubs.

[QUOTE]They’re some of the city’s grittiest crime investigators, sniffing out narcotics, looking for clues at shooting scenes and helping to find missing children.

They are often the unsung heroes of the Toronto Police Service, but they have earned the respect of some of the toughest officers on the force.

Toronto police are mourning two service dogs who died from illness last week.

General patrol dog Luke and narcotics and firearms detector dog Keno leave behind a team of 29 dogs. Service dogs live with their police handlers, becoming part of the officer’s family.

“The relationship you form with a canine partner is very special; it’s completely different than your own dog”, said Const. Jennifer Powis of Police Dog Services.

“It’s devastating to everybody,” said Powis. “It’s really hard on the handler and the whole unit.”

Training Sgt. Paul Caissie had similar thoughts.

“To lose two dogs affected us for our strength as well as the good work we do on a day-to-day basis,” Caissie said in a statement.

Both dogs were assigned to Const. Eric Hembruff. Only first-class constables are chosen as handlers, who must meet rigorous physical and training standards.

“This was not only a great loss to Eric but also to our Dog Services family and the entire service,” said Caissie, adding it’s uncommon to lose dogs during their tenure.

Service dogs are generally acquired at 1 to 2 years of age and usually serve for up to 10 years.

German Shepherd Luke was nearing retirement as a 9-year-old. As a general patrol dog, his job included capturing suspects and clearing public spaces.

He was known as being energetic and loyal. Hembruff was assigned Luke in 2007 and trained with him for eight weeks.

At his inauguration as a dog handler in April 2008, Hembruff said the two had grown quite close after learning to read each others’ body language.

“For Luke, it’s all a game for him — he thinks he’s looking for his toy,” said Hembruff, referring to the blue plastic ball he rewarded Luke with after operations.

Keno was a 6-year-old Springer Spaniel, a confident dog who helped with many contraband seizures.

“As a result of Eric's hard work and determination, he was identified as a candidate for a specially trained narcotics detection dog,” Caissie said.

“Every day I’m reminded of the great work these dogs do.” [/QUOTE]
From: [url]http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1093221--police-mourn-devastating-loss-of-two-service-dogs[/url]

When I read this my first thought is why write this article in the first place? Police dogs deserve recognition for all of their hard work, and they've been recognized before when they fall in the line of duty. But to have an article in the paper about 2 that passed due to "Illness"? Because its so vague it allows for speculation.

I started thinking up a multitude of possibilities that would explain this "Illness" between 2 dogs of different ages and the one that seemed the most logical was poison. There has been so many instances of people poisoning food and leaving it where they know a dog will get it. Since both dogs were with the same officer it is possible that someone tossed something over the fence that both dogs were able to get into.

But then why not just say that in the article?

Ah man.... I'm turning into my conspiracy loving boyfriend.... :headslap: