CHARLOTTETOWN — Meet the newest member of the Charlottetown Police Service, Captain K9.
He’s the first canine therapy dog for first responders on Prince Edward Island, and his job is to support the mental health and wellbeing of officers in the city.
He was donated to the force by Canine Therapy for First Responders (CTFFR). The organization was founded in February 2019 in honor of Fredericton police Constable Robb Costello, after he and Constable Sara Mae Burns were killed in the line of duty in August 2018.
“I wanted to do something positive and tangible that would come out of this,” said CTFFR founder and president Tracey Ryan. “I made a promise the day of the regimental funeral, as I stood in the civic centre in Fredericton. I said, ‘something good will come from this,’ and here we are four years later.”
Constable Robert Schnarr was picked to be the dog’s handler. He trained in Fredericton and knew Robb Costello.
“I realized that the one dog, Rosa, was named after the both of them,” said Schnarr. “That would have been part of it for sure.”
Captain lives with Schnarr, who’ll be doing much of the 9 month old puppy’s continuing training under the supervision of the CTFFR master trainer, though the animal already has good instincts.
“The dog will be able to go to individual to individual, and bring them each comfort,” said Ryan. “But he’ll probably smell out the one who smells the worst out of the bunch.”
Over the next 15 months the dog will learn more, going from mostly support for officers and first responders, to support for victims at the station and being certified to do his job helping victims at the courthouse.
It's a big job, but Captain and his handler are ready to do it.
“I was glad to volunteer and do this duty,” said Schnarr.
Captain is one of just six facility dogs doing this kind of work through CTFFR in the Maritimes, all in the memory of two fallen officers.
