Police dog Kye calls it quits after 8 years WEST VANCOUVER Police super-dog Kye retired his sniffer earlier this month after putting in eight action-pack- ed years of dogged duty, tracking local criminal suspects. Kye’s handler and owner, Con- st. Jim Almas, trades in his job as senior dog handler with the detachment for a patrol posting. Over the years, Kye made numerous headlines by successfully tracking multiple suspects at crime scenes. In one particular tracking inci- dent years ago, Kye and Almas were called in to assist North Van- couver RCMP on a stolen vehicle case. A car had been stolen in Vancouver and was found aban- doned in North Vancouver. Kye located one suspect, return- ed to the car, broke a leg while running down an embankment, crossed the Capilano River and caught two more suspects. While returning to the car, Kye found a fourth man hiding, and two hours later, flushed out a fifth suspect hiding in the bedroom of a house nearby. Said Almas of the nine-year-old purebred German Shepherd: “Every dog is different. Some are low key. Kye has a really high-tevel drive to work, He'll work for three hours on a track.’’ In fact, the dog has been known to track up to Busine By MICHAEL BECKER News Reporter three scent-driven miles at a time. “Their olfactory glands can range anywhere from 100 to a mil- lion times stronger than a human’s,”” Almas said. ‘‘To them, every person smells different. It’s like a fingerprint. Scent rubs off on everything.’’ Kye’s eight-year stint with the dog squad is a record for the sec- tion. He was one of the first to join when the section was formed in March, 1982. And he’s outlasted all of his canine co-workers. Said Almas: ‘‘All the other dogs that came after him retired two or three years ago. A lot of dogs just last four or five years. He’s lasted eight years because he’s got a real strong drive.”” After living and working with the dog for the past eight years, Almas can ‘‘read’’ Kye well. But he vividly recalls a situation that occurred early on during their ca- reer together where Kye’s reading of his master’s predicament saved the day for Almas. ss Management EVENING CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS 5 Mondays Marketing Accounting I Introduction t 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. o Business Microcomputer Applications Tuesdays , Accounting II 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. Introduction to Business Wednesdays Accounting I 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. Introduction to Business Computers Mm Thursdays = Business Law 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. rot Introduction to Business Computers Evening Programs Leading to a Diploma Mondays Accounting I - Organizational Behaviour Tuesdays Quantitative Methods II Microcomputers ‘Wednesdays Accounting I Marketing II Thursdays Quantitative Methods II Business Systems 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. Starting Date: January 8, 1990 Cost: $122.25 per course In-Person Registration: January 2, 5 - 8:30 p.m. Room AlI!7. (New and Returning students.) For more information, please call 984-4960, CAPILANG COLLEGE 2055 Purcell Way + North Vancouver British Columbia The officer had stopped a vehi- cle involved in an accident. ‘‘Three old ladies asked for help. I pulled in to a cul-de-sac at about mid- night to arrest this biker-type girl for rear-ending them,” he said. The woman began to kick and scratch him. While she was attack- ing, a man, who Almas hadn't seen in the woman’s car, jumped out and put a choke hold on Almas. Meanwhile, the three ter- sified ladies locked themselves in their own car while the struggle raged on outside. “He pretty well had me and Kye was locked in the car,’’ Almas said. Seeing Almas in trouble, Kye smashed through a _ shield separating the back and front seats of the police cruiser and leaped through an open front window. The dog pulled away the assailant choking Almas. “That’s a true partner,"’ Almas said. Just 32 years old, Almas has had four operations on his legs to treat injuries sustained while chasing after the dog down embankmenis, through rivers and creeks and over eight-foot fences. ‘*When you get a little older, you start to feel those eight-foot fences,’’ Almas said. Kye has been replaced by a younger pup, Ferro. 7 - Wednesday, December 27, 1989 - North Shore News Gov't of Canada *TBILLS 12.10% TEEN MEW YER ROD CLARK 669.6262 Thank you fer your continued support. 987-2966 Serving the North Shore for 18 years. 5 W. ath Ave.” ANO 736-0341