Police K-9 Handlers Learn How to Treat Canine Casualties

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You’re a law enforcement officer and you’ve just come upon an incident in progress. You’re fired on. You’re safe, but your K-9 partner is hit and wounded. Now what?

The Pasadena Police Department and Police & Working K-9 Foundation, a California non-profit organization, hosted a Tactical Canine Casualty Care Course for law enforcement officers and their police canine partners Tuesday at the Rose Bowl to train for that scenario and others involving injuries to canines.

Twenty-five K-9 handlers from eight law enforcement agencies (Pasadena Police Dept., Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept., Los Angeles Police Dept., California Highway Patrol, US Coast Guard, South Pasadena Police Dept., Alhambra Police Dept., and Whittier Police Dept.) trained in the skills necessary to assess their canine partner’s injuries and stabilize the dog for transportation and emergency veterinary care.

The full-day instruction was taught by Doctor Janice Baker and her team of Veterinary Tactical Group from North Carolina. Dr. Baker has 16 years’ experience a military veterinarian with over ten years with Special Operations Forces and combat deployments supporting working dogs.

Separately, the Pasadena Police Department said the newest member of the Pasadena PD canine team, Officer Lynda Mercado and canine partner “Kyra”, a 2 1?2-year old female Dutch Shepherd from Holland trained in patrol operations, suspect detection searches, and will be certified in explosives detection by May 2016.

The acquisition of Pasadena PD’s fourth K-9 unit was made possible by the generous donation from the Pasadena Police Foundation.