Hanging up his badge
Hamilton service dog Scout is off duty, but try explaining retirement to a dog,
After nearly seven years of service and more than 50 arrests, PSD Scout is hanging up his badge.
But there will be no laying around in retirement for this police service dog. The eightyear-old German shepherd still has lots of energy at home with his former handler.
“He’s still a work dog,” said Const. David Kerkhof. “You can’t explain retirement to a dog.”
Scout was born in Hungary, purchased by a kennel in Belgium and then came to Hamilton police through a broker in Orangeville. He was trained by Waterloo Regional Police (Hamilton now has its own training program), but Kerkhof said he’s constantly training Scout — even in retirement.
Good police service dogs are strong, agile and, most importantly, have a good nose, he said.
When Scout first joined the four-officer Hamilton police canine unit, he was trained to track human scent — a skill used to find missing people, hiding criminals and evidence. Then he was trained to detect narcotics, firearms and money.
For Kerkhof, the most rewarding days were when they would find missing people. He and Scout made the news in March 2018 when a 93-yearold senior was missing near
Hamilton’s shopping area Centre on Barton. After spending the night outside, Scout found Romeo Marinilli hidden in bushes off a set of train tracks.
Marinilli was suffering from hypothermia and died nearly a week later. But the family thanked Kerkhof and Scout for finding Marinilli and giving them time to say goodbye. Kerkhof went to Marinilli’s funeral.
In another case, there was a woman in Waterdown who was suicidal and had overdosed. It was the summer and she was missing.
The ground search team had been out the night before and couldn’t find her, he recalls. The next day he and Scout went out, and within a couple of minutes, they went deep into the bushes and found the woman near death — her life was saved.
Then there are the times they’ve tracked criminals.
“The big thing for me is the dog is able to find somebody police were not able to find on their own,” he said.
They’ve found suspects hiding under decks, wedged in between fences and sheds.
In one case, they tracked a suspected impaired driver who fled an OPP ride lane in Brant County and led police on a high-speed chase through multiple jurisdictions, including Hamilton and Niagara, before the driver crashed on Highway 407 near Appleby Line in Burlington and fled.
Scout lost the scent, but Kerkhof let him off his leash. They found him hidden in dense bush.
For Kerkhof, who is back in uniform patrol, working in the canine unit was the “highlight of my career.
“Best job I’ve ever done.”