Police dog Gazza and pals honoured
A new memorial wall for New Zealand’s police dogs has been unveiled in Wellington.
Constable Josh Robertson, who lost his dog, Gazza, in a siege in Porirua last April, unveiled the plaque at the wall of remembrance at the Police Dog Training Centre in Trentham, Upper Hutt, yesterday afternoon. Guests present included nine dog handlers who had lost dogs in the line of duty, including seven retired handlers.
One of them was Dave Painter, who lost his dog, Nero, in a car crash in November 1972. Working a night shift, the-then constable was in a car crash when a driver with no lights on hit Painter’s dog van. The vehicle flipped, the driver of the other car was killed, and Painter was injured and hospitalised.
Nero had a broken back and had to be put down.
‘‘It was a terrible pity because he was a very, very good dog.’’
Painter, who later retired as a senior sergeant after serving as chief dog handler, said Nero was more than a pet.
‘‘It’s like another member of the family. If you’ve got three children and a dog, you’ve got four kids.’’
The ceremony was especially poignant for him. ’’It’s quite significant to come back actually.’’
Painter built the training centre, which was a massive upgrade from a rudimentary facility preceding it.
‘‘We needed more space, we needed a better place.’’
Painter said overseas handlers came from Australia and the Pacific Islands to train at Trentham.
‘‘Now, we’ve got a world-class facility.’’