The Legend of Eli
Police dogs lead intense lives and most retire around 7 years old. But not Eli. This magnificently handsome boy served the RCMP and the people of British Columbia for an amazing 10 years, finally retiring at the age of 12. The American Kennel Club suggests that Eli worked well into his golden years, retiring at a human equivalent age of 77!
Eli’s service wasn’t just long – it was distinguished too. In one memorable winter track, Eli located a missing man near Hazelton who’d abandoned his broken down vehicle and set out on foot. When found he was so disoriented from hypothermia he thought he was 1200 km to the south, in Vancouver’s Stanley Park. Eli’s handler, Corporal Jarrod Trickett, noted that the man only had a couple of hours left to live when found.
On another cold night, Eli tracked a man armed with a knife into a forest, pulling back from the assailant just as he reached for a knife. Thankfully, neither Eli nor his human partners were hurt in that incident. Police dogs are still dogs, and like most dogs when he had an opportunity to chop down on a piece of stray food, he did. Unfortunately, it was in a drug house, the food was spoiled, and may have been tainted with drugs. Eli had to fight for his life and spent months off work recovering. Despite these bad experiences Eli’s gentle side never left him and he was as successful with school visits and he was in finding missing or escaping people
On choosing when to retire Eli, Cpl. Trickett said “There’s no manual out there to tell us when. He’s been part of my identity for a very long time.” Eli’s “ability to switch off” from work mode and relax is part of his secret to a long career, thinks Cpl. Trickett. And switch off he has, and is now a retired Police Service Dog whose career is one for the record books. Congratulations on your well-earned retirement, Eli.