The next generation of furry crime-fighters has arrived.
Winnipeg police announced Friday that seven new puppies have joined the K9 Unit’s in-house breeding program.
Police said the new recruits are the first to have been bred through the program using artificial insemination. It’s an attempt to combine the traits of the pups’ mother, PSD Ellie, and father, the late PSD Judge, who died in 2015 after a 10-year career.
Samples were taken from Judge nine years ago, police said, and frozen for the purpose of breeding future litters. Judge sired more than 45 puppies, including six who are currently working with Winnipeg police.
Each of the seven new pups will also be trained as police dogs, for Winnipeg cops as well as other agencies.
The in-house breeding program, one of the only such projects run by a police service in Canada, has been in effect since 1999 and has supplied police dogs to departments in western Canada, as well as U.S. states like Utah and Minnesota.
Comments