Manitoba RCMP Sgt. Kent MacInnis was driving home from Edmonton when a car crash changed his life and ended his partner’s.
The veteran of the Police Dog Services Unit was returning on Hwy 16 to Dauphin, Man., from a course hosted by the Edmonton Police Service. He was close to Saskatoon when he was T-boned by a vehicle trying to come across the highway.
“I was badly injured and my service dog was injured to the point of no return and had to be put down,” said MacInnis.
MacInnis, who is now the program manager in charge of Police Dog Services in Manitoba, broke 11 bones, had a lacerated spleen, bruised heart and concussion.
He was in critical condition, recovering, when he was told his dog Rev, a German shepherd born in Innisfail, would have be put down.
“I woke up to hear the news,” said MacInnis. “I never got a chance to say goodbye. We always hope we can be there with our animal at the end of the day. And be there with them when they die.”
The plan all along was for Rev to retire home with the MacInnis family.
MacInnis and Rev were posted to Prince George, B.C., Swift Current, Sask., and Dauphin, Man., between 2006 and 2013.
On Sept. 26 at 1 p.m., there will be a private memorial and funeral for Rev at the Police Dog Service Training Centre near Bowden. Rev will be placed on the national monument for fallen police dogs.
“It’s like losing a family member,” said MacInnis. “I was with my dog for seven years on the street. He came home with me every night, he came to every call, he was a huge part of my life.
“I spent, arguably, more time with him than I did with my wife and children. He was there for more in every facet of my job.”
MacInnis has been to police dog funerals before and helped create the national monument for fallen police dogs at the training centre in 2007.
“I was at the inaugural ceremony for the monument and there were a lot of different dog handlers over the years who have had their dogs killed in the line of duty,” said MacInnis.
“It is emotional. We get so attached to our animals and we care for them and work with them day in and day out. When this happens, there are emotions from guys who lost their dogs years ago.”
mcrawford@www.reddeeradvocate.com