Police dogs or K9 units are absolutely essential in any police department, and it’s just absolute;y incredible what these dogs can do. When teamed with a human partner, they excel at all kinds of things such as narcotics and drugs detection, chasing and attacking criminals, or finding missing people.
Because of their strict responsibilities, K9 dogs have to go through rigorous training before they’re deployed on the field, and they never stop learning.
This canine officer who listens to the name Max already proved to be invaluable on his very first day of work.
Max, an absolutely beautiful black German Shepherd mix literally just completed his K9 unit training at the Dyfed-Powys Police Department in the United Kingdom. He was partnered with officer Peter Lloyd, and the two definitely make a perfect team.
On their first day together, they received a call about a missing woman and her small child who needed to be found as soon as possible.
Other police officers located her car, and officer Lloyd and Max quickly arrived at the location in Powys. Unfortunately, it wasn’t exactly a crowded location and they couldn’t check traffic camera’s either – the woman’s car was parked on the outside of the mountains in Wales. The area was absolutely huge, making a search and rescue operation like this one quite difficult.
One thing was for sure: Max’s first day on the job definitely wouldn’t be a walk in the park, but he was certainly up for the challenge.
“The woman had not been seen or spoken to for two days, which was out of character, and her phone wasn’t working, so naturally concern for her safety was high,” Inspector Jonathan Rees-Jones said in a statement. “This is where PD Max’s tracking skills really came into play. Despite only recently becoming licensed, and on his first operational shift, he immediately commenced an open area search.”
The rescue operation was absolutely huge, and the police force dispatched an NPAS helicopter and asked for the assistance of the Brecon Mountain Rescue Team.
In the end, however, it was Max who was able to find the missing family.
Thanks to a scent he acquired from the car, Max seemed to know where to look. And even though it took over an hour and a half, the four-footer led his partner to the stranded woman and her baby son. They were stuck at a ravine, and the woman was elated that help finally arrived.
“Thankfully, after an hour-and-a-half of searching, the mum and baby were found. They were safe, but cold, and appeared to have been in the area for a significant amount of time.”
“This was a fantastic coordinated and determined team effort from everyone involved, which no doubt ensured the safety of the mum and baby who were at significant risk of harm.”
“I must give a special mention to PC Pete Lloyd and Max, who on their very first day since completing their training together covered a significant amount of mileage in the search, eventually locating them safe.”
The K9 dog was absolutely invaluable in this search and rescue operation, and things could’ve ended very differently if it weren’t for this eager four-footer.
“I was really pleased that during our first operational deployment as a dog team, myself and Max were able to safely locate the missing mother and baby. Max remained focussed throughout the long search and he proved invaluable when he reacted to the call for help which resulted in us locating them.”
The dog’s first day at the police force was definitely a very memorable one, and he will undoubtedly help out the authorities even more during his career. Even though K9’s units are deployed for numerous reasons, we’re pretty sure that Max will specialize in finding lost people.
What an absolutely amazing job well done!
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