PHOTOS: Nanaimo police dog retires
Posted May 22, 2018 5:19 pm.
Last Updated May 22, 2018 5:25 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NANAIMO (NEWS 1130) – After years of hard work with the Nanaimo RCMP, Boomer is calling it a day.
The nine-year-old pure-bred German Shepherd was trained to be a police dog right from the start. He joined the Nanaimo detachment in 2012 as the new partner of Constable Clay Wurzinger.
The pair worked together on a number of notable cases over the last seven years on the island.
“[In 2016] they found an elderly lady who was lost outside North Cowichan for five days. It made national headlines and if it wasn’t for their tenacity and commitment, she would most likely not have survived,” recalls Constable Gary O’Brien.
O’Brien says Boomer and Wurzinger can also be credited with the capture of the suspect in a violent sexual assault and car theft case on Vancouver Island University four years ago.
And while many retirees may have a slow last day with some type of celebration to follow, Boomer had an eventful last night at work.
“On their last night Constable Wurzinger and Boomer captured a male wanted in connection with several break and enters,” he says. “A short time later the two successfully tracked and captured a suspect wanted in connection with a stabbing.”
Boomer is now living the good life as a family pet in the Wurzinger home.
“We were never the best looking team, never the most polished, but we tried hard, trained hard, and gave it all we had every time the phone rang, and we were rewarded with success,” says Wurzinger, who is now training with his new partner-in-(anti)crime, Jerry.
As for if Boomer will be visiting any of his old colleagues in the future, O’Brien says it’s not likely.
“When police dogs retire, they are done with police work, meaning they do not go back into police cars and do not come to the office,” explains O’Brien. “It’s too hard on them and the split is necessary so they can make the transition to non-working dog.”
