Veteran Winnipeg police dog retires

WINNIPEG – After a decade of chasing after the bad guys, Judge is hanging up the leash.

The service dog has been an active member of the Winnipeg Police Service for over ten years.

His handler, Patrol Sergeant Scott Taylor, said Judge is starting to show his age.

“He is slowing down,” said Taylor. “On a slow night two years ago, he would be intolerable to be with. He would whine and pace and pace and pace. He never stopped to the point where I would have to get out because I couldn’t take it any more. For the last three to five months though, he sleeps all night.”

The Winnipeg Police Service knows the public relations value of its K-9 unit. No media conferences are held when a human beat cop retires. The police dog unit has its own Facebook page that regularly boasts of arrests made by dogs, often before the information is officially released by media relations officers.

Taylor said the his most memorable case with Judge was back in 2011 when the pair tracked down a suspect accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 16-year-old from Winnipeg all the way to the Portage Diversion.

While Judge is retiring, Taylor is switching to the investigations department. The pair will continue to live together.

“It’s going to be really hard for him to see me go everyday and hard for me not to take him,” said Taylor. “But again, it’s one of those things I knew going in. That this is where we are going to be. Father time has caught up to him so here we are.”

The dog’s impact within the service will continue to be felt. He fathered more than 40 police pooches, six of which are working with the Winnipeg Police Service.