Edmonton charity wants to help retired heroes with paws

An Edmonton-based charity is working to make sure police dogs are well taken care of after their hang up their vests.

Ned’s Wish funds necessary medical procedures for retired police dogs to treat wear and tear or injuries they received while working.

“They’re subject to overuse injuries just like humans are. We start to see joint problems, back problems, hip problems and things like that develop over time,” Insp. Leon Fiedler told 630 CHED Afternoons on Wednesday.

LISTEN BELOW: 630 CHED Afternoons is joined by Ned’s Wish

Ned was a retired police dog owned by Ned’s Wish president Stacey Talbot. After almost five years of service as an RCMP dog, Ned came to live with Talbot in 2011.

While he was still working, Ned blew out his ACL. It was repaired but the long-term effects of that injury continued after Talbot adopted Ned.

Though the charity is based in Edmonton, anyone who has adopted a retired police dog can register to be reimbursed for medical care as long as the dog was a member of a recognized law enforcement agency under the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.

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Partners after retirement

Insp. Fiedler currently owns a retired police dog named Arctic. The two worked together for eight years, starting when Arctic was only 10 months old. So for him, the charity has a personal connection as he continues to care for his long-term partner.

“I’ve always felt confident when I’ve been out in the field working with my dogs that they were going to help me get home at the end of a shift.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I've always felt confident when I've been out in the field working with my dogs that they were going to help me get home at the end of a shift.

“But the other side of it is the amount of work that they do to support the community — whether it’s locating and apprehending a criminal or locating lost and missing people or just recovering property to taking drugs off the street — they do so much.”

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For example, in his first search, Arctic found a kilo of cocaine — street value of between $50,000 to $70,000 — hidden in a secret compartment in a vehicle.

“I remember after we finished that search saying, ‘This dog could basically do nothing for the next seven years and that was probably worth it.'”

Funding after service

Because money allocated to police budgets needs to be used to keep the public safe, there isn’t any government money that’s put aside for caring for these dogs after retirement. After having three retired police dogs, Talbot said that’s where she saw the gap.

“We work with law enforcement because we understand that,” she said.

“We understand that it’s all publicly funded and taxpayers dollars can only go so far and we have to keep our working dogs working.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We understand that it's all publicly funded and taxpayers dollars can only go so far and we have to keep our working dogs working."

The charity was created in 2016 after Ned passed away, shortly before his 13th birthday. People can visit the Ned’s Wish website to support the not-for-profit and to learn more about the different dogs the organization helps.

Currently the charity is supporting dogs in Alberta, British Columbia and Newfoundland.