Former police dog handlers join forces to support retired four-legged colleagues

Chilliwack, B.C. -

Const. Aaron Courtney was passionate about his career as a police dog handler. That 16-year career was wiped away in seconds, when he was rammed by a suspected drunk driver.

“I actually try not to think about it too much because it is deeply emotional,” Courtney told CTV News. “My career plan and path was trending a certain way and it totally had to change – forced to change, unfortunately for me. So it’s emotional to talk about, it’s tough to talk about. I deeply, deeply miss it.”

On March 4, 2019, the Abbotsford constable was in Burnaby for K9 training. He was standing with another handler when the driver crashed into them and fled.

The investigation is still underway and no one has been charged.

Courtney was hospitalized and required extensive rehabilitation, and he can no longer work as a K9 handler.

He is now on light-duty status, but is choosing not to focus on the negative.

“I couldn't work a dog anymore, operationally, but I can help the dogs,” he said.

A few years before the collision, the idea of selling coffee beans was something he had always dreamed of, but didn’t set out to do.

“I think with all of us in life, we get busy. We talked ourselves out of it,” he said. “When the accident happened, I said, ‘Well, I’ve got to do it.’”

Several months after the collison, another Lower Mainland K9 handler was faced with different adversity.

Sgt. Jason Martens’ retired canine partner, Tyson, had an infection that would cost $10,000 to treat.

“Tyson was my partner,” Martens said. “There's no option, you know, just to let him hang without the surgery – it's going to happen. It's a matter of how you're going to pay for it. That's kind of how Support Retired Legends was born.”

They fundraised by selling apparel, and pretty soon, people were asking for their sweaters even after Tyson received the life-saving surgery, which helped him live a couple more years.

“We all receive pensions when we retire as police officers, and I think it's only fair that these dogs are taken care of in their golden years,” said Const. Andrea Martens.

In 2020, Courtney and the Martens joined forces to start Support Retired Legends & K9 Coffee.

With the challenges of the pandemic, they had few opportunities to sell their products to the public.

On Saturday, they set up a pop-up store in the parking lot of Winks Home Gift and Baby in Chilliwack.

There was a steady stream of people buying merchandise and bags of coffee beans.

“It blew us away,” said Jason Martens. “It was humbling. Basically, we know that people love dogs, but especially dogs that give their life just to serve the community. I think people really recognize that. They wanted to help out in any way they could.”

The proceeds go to Ned’s Wish, a Canadian foundation that supports retired police and military dogs.

“We haven’t paid ourselves a cent since we started the company,” said Andrea Martens. “We're hoping to pay ourselves a little bit just for our time. But it all comes down to the dogs; we would like to support as many of these service dogs that we can across Canada.”

Their products are found online and sold at some local retailers in the Fraser Valley and one in Quebec.