Saturday, November 16, 2024 at 8:25 PM
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Police canine retires after seven years of service

After seven years on the force, Boerne Police Department K9 officer Tucker was retired from service last week in a ceremony before City Council.

Police Chief Steve Perez also took the opportunity to introduce the department’s newest canine officer, Chico. Both dogs were present at the speaker podium.

The department received Tucker via “a generous donation from a Boerne resident who donated to the Boerne Police Foundation,” as well as covered all the equipment required to convert a police vehicle to a canine-specialty vehicle.

Tucker

Tucker, an 8-year-old female Belgian Malinois, attended civic functions such as National Night Out, and made school appearances “not only for drug detection, but as a P.R. dog” for the department. “She’s gotten a lot of attention on our social media pages over the years,” Perez said.

Perez listed the accomplishments Tucker and handler Sgt. Pete Moncada achieved during her seven years of active duty.

She had 478 deployments and assisted in 168 arrests, Perez said. “She assisted in finding about 10 pounds of marijuana/THC products, 300 grams of methamphetamines, 150 grams of cocaine and heroin.”

In addition to drug searches, one of Tucker’s specialties is tracking.

“She did help track three people, one being an elderly person who had wandered away from an assisted-living unit,” the chief said. “She was instrumental in helping us locate that person and get them the care they needed.”

Perez thanked Dr. Meghan Kirkpatrick and Cheryl Goudreau at Kendall County Veterinary Center for caring for and maintaining Tucker during her years of service.

“They are going to continue to honor the maintenance and care plan with Tucker, even so she is going to be retired and living the good life with Pete and his family,” he said.

Mayor Frank Ritchie praised Tucker and handler Moncada.

“Being an officer is one thing, but being a canine officer is another whole level of commitment, 24/7,” Ritchie said. “For your dedication to the city of Boerne and dedication to these animals, I just can’t say thank you enough.

“And thank you, Tucker, for being a loyal servant and a great deputy for the city of Boerne,” the mayor added.

Perez said the department has two canines, Emma and Tucker. With Tucker's retirement, the department secured a replacement canine – Chico.

“With Tucker retiring, we obviously had to bring in a new dog, so we got Chico, he’s a Belgian as well, four years old.”

Moncada and Chico just completed the three-week canine course where they were certified for basic patrol, for narcotics and tracking.

“Tucker will get to live out her remaining years as a pet and Chico will now go to work for us from here on out,” the chief said.


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