First days at any new job can be intimidating for everyone, but no one feels the pressure more than the police force. The first thing that pops into your mind was probably police officers, but it can be nerve wracking for police dogs as well.
It was Max’s first day on the job in Powys, Wales when he had the most epic first day on the job ever. Alongside his handler PC Peter Lloyd of the Dyfed-Powys police force, his first task involved finding a missing woman.
The 2 year old German Shepard set to work on his first shift, trying hard to track down the woman and her 1 year old child. There was a lot of ground to cover to reach the missing woman and her child but Max proved to be up to the task.
The call was made to the police in the afternoon about the missing woman, and shortly after a search ensued, where Max was immediately put to work.
“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,” said the inspector on the case, Jonathan Rees-Jones.
In his statement he continued “Thanks to excellent work between teams, the woman’s car was quickly found on a mountain road. Although this gave officers a location to search from, there was still a vast area to cover given the amount of time she had been missing.”
Since they police had a starting point, it was easy for Max to take it from there. Even though he had only recently been licensed, his tracking skills set to work as he commenced on a huge open area search with his handler.
There was a lot of support from different forms of search and rescue, but it came down to Max’s nose, which helped spot the mother and baby waving for help in a ravine. Brecon Mountain Rescue, an NPAS helicopter, and various other resources aided in the search, but it all came down to Max in the end.
“After an hour and a half of searching, the mom and baby were found safe… but cold.” Rees Jones said. The two were checked out by paramedics as soon as possible and have since made a complete recovery.
“This was a fantastic coordinated effort from everyone involved, I must give a special mention to PC Pete Lloyd and Max, who on their very first day since completing training together covered a significant amount of milage in the search, eventually locating them safe.” the inspector said of his successful team. Way to go Max!
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