By Michael Dibiaso
Published on 5/13/2005
Just six months after being forced into retirement by illness, Bear, one of East Haven's police dogs, has returned to active duty. Bear was reinstated by the Police Commission several weeks ago after a full recovery from the stomach ailment that sidelined him and passing the required certification tests. "He is such an asset to the department. He has had so many finds and has done so much good for the town," said Officer Joe Peterson, who is Bear's handler and who took care of Bear during his retirement. The five year-old German shepherd was originally misdiagnosed in June of last year with a bowel overgrowth that and a gastrointestinal virus that forced him into retirement. The normally 100 pound dog had dropped to under 70 pounds from the prolonged illness during which he stopped eating for extended periods. Bear nearly died until veterinarians discovered that the illness was caused by a parasite, which was quickly treated. Peterson believes that Bear got the parasite while on a search in a swamp last year. Once he was properly diagnosed Bear quickly regained his strength at Peterson's East Haven home, where he had retired to be the family dog. "Once he started to get healthy I started to nag the chief, telling him that it would be a shame to let such a great dog go to waste," said Peterson. The result is that Peterson was given the OK to take bear to Virginia to get recertified through a test with a master trainer, which he passed. On his arrival he was welcomed back to the force by the Police Commission and his fellow officers. Bear has been widely recognized for his abilities. At last year's USPCA tournament, Bear won four awards including third overall in agility and second overall in handler protection. Bear, one of three dogs on the East Haven Police Department, is a patrol dog trained in the apprehension of criminals, handler protection, evidence recovery, tracking, building searches, and area searches. Many such tasks can be performed by a single trained dog in half the time that it could take a dozen men. "Just the presence of the dog is important in day to day police work. You know somebody might want to fight an officer, but nobody wants to fight a shepherd," said Peterson.