poems for Working Dogs, K-9's, SAR, WAR, Guide & Assistance Dogs & All Mounted Police Horses
Posted on 05/04/2004 7:24:56 AM PDT by presidio9
In Canada's pantheon of pet heroes, Cyr might be the dog who changed the law.
The big German shepherd took several bullets from close range and died in May, 2001, while helping Constable Steve Kaye try to arrest a fleeing gunman near Saskatoon.
The pursuing officers shot and killed the gunman. Constable Kaye's two young children lost their pet, but kept their dad. Cyr's influence now lives on.
Cyr yesterday joined 126 animals in Purina Canada's Animal Hall of Fame at a ceremony at a downtown hotel.
Kaye said that since that unhappy day three years ago many police forces have decided to protect service dogs with custom-fitted bulletproof vests.
Not only that, Cyr has become poster dog for a police campaign to amend the Criminal Code.
Small fines for cruelty to animals that reach a maximum of $500 do not deter the maiming or killing of highly trained police animals, said Constable Dave Mounsteven of Durham Region police yesterday. Police dogs are worth $30,000 by the time they and their human partners are on active duty together, said Mounsteven.
Cyr's killing has sparked a national campaign to penalize — up to five years in jail — those who hurt police dogs.
In other awards yesterday:
Sosa, a cat belonging to Kimberley Kotar of Dorval, Que., was recognized for saving her mistress from a large poisonous snake that suddenly appeared in the home rock garden. The cat attacked the snake, a poisonous Eastern Cottonmouth not native to Quebec.
The local SPCA removed the snake, but how it got to Kotar's home remains a mystery. Sosa was bitten by the cottonmouth but recovered after three days.
Juice, a year-old Cane Corso living in Smiths Falls, last November roused newlywed nurse Kari Evoy and husband Steve, a printer, with persistent loud whining and licking. They went downstairs to find the kitchen in flames and had just enough time to escape from the house before it burned to the ground. Shadow, a cat, suddenly began meowing loudly in the Rathwell home in the early morning of Jan. 16, 2003. The dog Duke and three children continued to doze, but the agitated cat woke mother Karen, who found herself nauseous and dizzy with a nasty headache.
Rathwell rose from her basement bedroom, stumbled, and realized she had to call 911 and get the groggy children out. A malfunctioning gas furnace had raised carbon monoxide levels and the family had narrowly escaped tragedy.
More "hero" awards were handed out yesterday — by the Toronto Humane Society — to commemorate Be Kind to Animals Week.
Plaques were presented to captains Ted Sorokos and Norm Jackson and firefighters John Ronalds, Phil Barnes, Nancy Marcelli and Tim Hayden for rescuing two Bernese mountain dogs and two cats from a smoke-filled High Park area home in January.
Also recognized were Captain Gary Wilson and firefighter Matt Brierley for saving two boa constrictors from a blazing Scarborough home in January.
Toronto detectives Sydney Thomas and Paul Myers were honoured for their efforts to track down a suspect after someone put a poisonous substance in Withrow Park earlier this year that killed one dog and caused another 15 to become ill.
Joey Cabrel, a blind clerk at Toronto police headquarters, was recognized along with his seeing eye dog Bomber for nabbing an impaired driver.
The specially trained dogs from the Ontario Provincial Police, Moose, Justice and Dare, were also cited for their efforts to find people trapped in debris when the Uptown Theatre collapsed on to a school while being demolished in December.
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