Mounties in North Vancouver are praising the work of a four-legged member of the RCMP after the dog helped track down a shoplifting suspect.
Officers were called to the Seymour area last week for reports that a man had stolen various items from a Superstore. Mounties were told the man brandished a knife and ran into a wooded area behind the store.
Security provided a description of the suspect, and Mounties boxed in the area and called for a police dog to aid in the search, the RCMP said in a statement Thursday.
Enter Hannie.
The canine officer followed a scent trail from the supermarket, dragging her handler into a "huge thicket" of blackberry bushes.
"She was excited to plunge in, but I don't think the officers felt quite the same way," Sgt. Peter DeVries said in a statement.
The driven dog pulled reluctant officers into the bushes in her search for the suspect.
"Police service dogs help us in so many ways, and they always do it with a smile," DeVries said.
"Not only can their tracking patterns be used as evidence in prosecutions, but they also remind us who the toughest cops are."
On the other side, Hannie led police to the feet of a suspect, who had been detained by an officer who'd spotted the man while they waited for the dog to arrive.
"By the end of the ordeal, officers and suspect alike were covered in dozens of red scratches," DeVries said.
As a result of the investigation, a 40-year-old man is facing a robbery charge. He has not been publicly identified.
