Vet of the Month: April, 2009
A Friend Not to be Forgotten
I joined the Force forty-five years ago and I weighed about 140 lbs. In those days, since I had recently graduated from ‘Depot’, I could run on duty alongside most of the Dog Masters on the Lower Mainland of 'E' Div. Chasing the Police Service Dog (PSD) through the woods and along highways was an exciting venture and one’s adrenalin ran high when the dog’s vice-grip clutched the ankle of a runaway ‘client’.
Time and time again, I marveled at the skills, ability and strengths of our Dog Masters and the proven obedience and talent of their partners. I wish to acknowledge the extraordinary contributions made to investigations by RCMP Dog Masters and Police Service Dogs. Many cases have depended upon the expertise of these teams to help bring about justice.
In late 1963, the Dog Master at Kamloops, British Columbia received a call for help from Enderby Detachment. It had been reported that two teenage daughters had disappeared after school.
An intense search, involving the Dog Master and an RCMP dog, began immediately in a wooded area near to the school. The tracking ability of the PSD led to material discoveries including school books and clothes. The all night search ended tragically when the PSD led his master through the woods to the sites of the bodies of the two girls.
Soon afterward, a man identified as Lawrence Herman Haase walked out of the woods. Haase was arrested as a possible suspect for murder, however, there was no physical evidence connecting him directly to the ghastly crimes.
The Dog Master decided to back track from the point in the woods where Haase was first seen. Not far into the woods, the Dog Master retrieved a flashlight which was in working order. The Dog Master, following the lead of the PSD, continued to follow the track back and forth to the edge of a river and then back into the bush. Eventually, the Dog Master’s attention was drawn by his canine partner to search more intensely between two rotting logs. There a man’s bloodstained shirt was discovered. In addition, the RCMP dog guided the Dog Master to a camp fire which was still burning deep in the woods.
In the meantime, the suspect Haase made several statements to the investigating members confessing to the murders. He provided information about the murder weapon, a rifle. In spite of a systematic search by civilian volunteers and RCMP members, the rifle barrel could not be found.
It was decided that all members of the search party would be withdrawn from the woods in order to leave the search alone to the Dog Master and his partner. After four days of intense searching, the RCMP dog focused on a hollow log and when the Dog Master tore the log apart, he found the .22 calibre rifle barrel which had been missing. The evidence allowed charges of murder to be laid against the suspect Haase.
The murder trial began and one of the chief witnesses was the Dog Master. The Dog Master testified to the marvels of his partner ‘Klia’. It was the dog’s extraordinary tracking ability that uncovered the needed evidence at the murder scene.
At the point in the trial when the judge, Judge A. H. McLean, instructed the jury he made a remarkable statement when he noted that, to his knowledge, this case marked the first time in a Canadian Court when the evidence provided through the efforts of a Dog Master and his Police Service Dog was totally accepted.
On March 6, 1964, Haase was convicted of Capital Murder and was sentenced to hang.
At the time of the search for the young girls and the uncovering of the evidence that had led to their deaths, Police Service Dog ‘Klia’ was only 13 ½ months old. Klia was an extraordinary asset to this police investigation. The tireless, exact and concentrated efforts of not only Klia but all Police Service Dogs are worthy of our grateful acknowledgement.
We congratulate all our Dog Masters and our Police Service Dogs and we thank you.
‘Klia’ our friend and our Dog Master’s partner is our Special April, 2009 Vet of the Month.
RIP
Source:
Summarized from: Report of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police: Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 1964. p.50
J. J.(Buffalo Joe) Healy
Ottawa, Ontario
April 23, 2009