Alberta RCMP PDS dog Hunter. (Alberta RCMP)

By David Opinko/LethbridgeNewsNOW

Who's a good boy?

Alberta RCMP police dogs captured over 900 suspects in 2020

Dec 30, 2020 | 10:58 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Who’s a good boy? These K-9 detectives are!

Alberta RCMP says their Police Dog Service (PDS) has been busy in 2020 even with COVID-19 restrictions impacting some aspects of their work.

Between the 18 PDS teams across the province, they responded to approximately 2,800 calls for service, helping to sniff out more than 900 criminals in that time. The calls for service include:

• 650 involved firearms or other weapons
• 570 involved violence-related offences
• 450 calls for missing people
• Over 950 calls for property crime-related offences
• Deployed in tracking profiles over 700 times

RCMP says the COVID-19 pandemic presented “unique circumstances” for the police dogs, but part of the reason they were kept so busy was their roles in investigating rural property crimes.

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All Alberta RCMP PDS dogs are purebred German Shepherds, which the force says “they are able to produce enough puppies to satisfy their training needs and no dogs are purchased for training. Generally, one in three puppies will become an RCMP working dog or breeding female.”

Alberta RCMP PDS dog Hulk. (Alberta RCMP)

Alberta RCMP PDS dog Hoover. (Alberta RCMP)