Service dogs, real service dogs and not the pretenders, come in all shapes and sizes and from many breeds. Some even resided in animal shelters before they underwent their special service dog training. Most people envision a shepherd or a Golden when they hear 'service dog' just as many associate the term service dog with police canines and seeing- eye dogs. But true service dogs do more than guide the blind or assist police in their work.
Only few of us know that trained service dogs also take to the fields and forests with California game wardens of the Department of Fish and Game. It is not likely that many dog lovers who frequent Internet dog sites are active hunters. But those who are have most likely encountered one of these brave and tough dogs. Together with their law enforcement handlers they brave cold, heat, rain. snow and highly dangerous, armed criminals that either cultivate illegal plants or decimate wildlife by poaching. It takes tough and energetic dogs to excel in this job.
I have met several of these remarkable dogs on duty in the great outdoors.
The California Department of Fish and Game honored two of these men and their service dogs. Read their commendation below.
“March 13, 2012 DFG News
Two of the most energetic dogs in the Department of Fish and Game’s (DFG) K-9 program are teamed with perhaps the most energetic wardens in California. Today, these wardens were named Officer of the Year: Trinity County Warden Paul Cardoza for 2011 and Shasta County Warden Brian Boyd for 2012. (DFG’s Law Enforcement Division traditionally announces the Officer of the Year during its annual Advanced Officer Training, but because budget constraints pre-empted last year’s training, both this year’s and last year’s award recipients were announced today.)
“Wardens Cardoza and Boyd have developed a reputation for maximizing the effectiveness of their K-9 partners to catch a lot of poachers,” said Nancy Foley, Chief of DFG’s Law Enforcement Division. “We are proud of their efforts and accomplishments.”
Warden Cardoza and his K-9 partner Kilo have proven themselves time and again on a number of poaching and general law enforcement cases, including one investigation where Kilo searched a murder scene a few days after the incident and found a firearm that witnesses had attempted to hide. The duo’s find resulted in the arrested man being cleared of murder charges (http://cdfgnews.wordpress.com/?s=Cardoza).
Both Warden Cardoza and K-9 Kilo are known for their extremely high-energy personalities. Cardoza’s tireless pursuit of poachers is well respected by his law enforcement peers, both in and outside of DFG. He is very serious about his role as a game warden and as a K-9 handler.
In addition to his patrol responsibilities, Warden Cardoza is a firearms instructor, defensive tactics instructor and an armorer for all department firearms. He conducts quarterly firearms training and teaches quarterly defensive tactics to his own squad, neighboring squads and academy cadets.
Warden Brian Boyd and K-9 partner Phebe have developed an effective technique for apprehending some of the most difficult and dangerous suspects in law enforcement work: fleeing illegal marijuana cultivation suspects on remote forest lands. The suspects are actively engaged in the commission of a felony, extremely physically fit, know the area better than their pursuers and are usually armed. To date, Warden Boyd and Phebe have apprehended 40 suspects (http://cdfgnews.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/good-dog-bites-bad-guys/).
Warden Boyd and Phebe are prominently featured on “Wild Justice,” the National Geographic reality series about California game wardens. Fans of the show routinely comment on the high-energy personalities of both Boyd and Phebe. In one episode during the show’s first season, producers attached a camera to Phebe’s collar to give viewers a never-before seen K-9 view of a chase and apprehension. They will duplicate the effort this season, which premiered March 11.
Warden Boyd has a reputation for pursuing poaching suspects with dogged determination, both by physically outrunning them and by outsmarting them. He has been known to use everything from disguises to creative surveillance techniques in his efforts to develop evidence of poaching crimes. Boyd has had an above-average number of trainees (rookie wardens right out of the academy) who commonly claim they learned more from him during their brief training cycle than from any other game warden in their careers. Three of those former trainees submitted lengthy nomination forms for his Officer of the Year honor.”
DFG
No comments:
Post a Comment