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Legalization of pot will mean job losses for some RCMP weed-sniffing dogs

Some could be sent to U.S., others retired
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Good police work on the part of this RCMP canine member, who helped make a big bust. (Contributed photo).

Canada’s upcoming cannabis legalization means big changes are looming for 14 RCMP pot-sniffing dogs, including five in Alberta.

The younger German shepherds and Labrador retrievers could be sent to work in countries where possessing marijuana is still illegal, such as the U.S., said Gary Creed, senior trainer for the RCMP police dog services near Innisfail.

Older dogs, likely between seven and 10 years old, will have to be retired — but Creed said their handlers will get first dibs on keeping them as pets.

He doubts retirement be a hard transition. Like people, the working dogs “shut off in the evenings…They’ll be happy to retire and lay around for a while…”

In any case, there’s a good chance some of these former police dogs will pick up jobs in the private sector. Creed noted most workplaces and many community events will not welcome the presence of cannabis, and a pot-sniffing dog could be a great asset.

Over the next few months, he’ll be busy training 14 new “interdiction” dogs for the RCMP. A new canine will have to be put into service for every pot-sniffing dog that’s retired or sent out of the country.

Creed said these new dogs, which come from the RCMP’s own police dog breeding program, will be trained to sniff out cocaine, heroin and other drugs — just not marijuana.

The twist is there will still be some RCMP dogs needed in future to sniff for cannabis. Even after legalization, charges can still be laid against somebody who possesses more than 30 grams of marijuana and who isn’t able to produce evidence that the weed was purchased from a legal vendor.

But Creed said this job will fall to police “G.D.,” or general duty dogs, which are already trained for a full spectrum of law enforcement tasks, including sniffing out weapons, missing people (including abduction victims), crime suspects — and finding marijuana and harder drugs.

He stressed there’s a big difference in training levels between interdiction dogs, which help traffic officers find drug evidence before making a potential arrest, and G.D. dogs, which help build many different kinds of criminal cases — generally after an arrest has already been made.

Interdiction dogs can’t be retrained to become G. D. dogs because they were the ones who couldn’t quite make the cut in the first place, he added.

Like other sectors of society, the RCMP is trying to be proactive and anticipate the changes coming down the pike with marijuana legalization, said Creed. “It wouldn’t be very nice to stick our heads in the sand.”



lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com

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Some future police dogs await training. (Contributed photo).