On Feb 27, an abandoned movie theater and a vacant building that was once a bar off of Coors and Paseo was transformed into training grounds for some of New Mexico’s law enforcement officers. What made this training unique was that many of the police participating in the training exercises were not humans, they were dogs. Over the loud, authoritative voices of law enforcement, the barking and snarling of the dogs was deafening as they rushed through empty window frames to bite trainers wearing protective clothing. The scenarios were staged, but as the trainers, or “decoys” removed their protective “bite-sleeves,” the large, multi-colored bruises covering their arms were unmistakably real.
The special training event was hosted by Spike’s K9 Fund and Spike’s School, a national nonprofit created to help working dogs. The organization was founded by James Hatch, a 26-year retired Naval Special Warfare Operator, serving 22 of those years with the SEAL team. Hatch, who says that his life was “regularly spared by the work of K9s” was badly injured in Afghanistan on his final deployment and says that his life was spared by a K9 named Remco, who died in battle. The company is named after one of the dogs who died serving alongside Hatch.
According to Spike’s School Director Casey McCrosson, “A decoy is the person in a bite suit that will either get bit or is just the target for the training. They represent the suspect or the person that the dog should go after. So right now, a lot of it is bite work. We’ll get them in the suit… a full Michelin-looking puffy thing that protects them from the actual punctures of a bite. Then we go down to hidden sleeves which are a little bit thinner.”
Law Enforcement Agencies Training Together
Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office, Rio Rancho PD, Santa Fe PD, Kirtland Air Force Base, Border Patrol and the dogs from the Albuquerque Police Dept. joined in this collaborative training program that not only develops specialized skills for dogs and decoys but allows agencies to develop standards and best practices across departments. Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office K9 Sergeant Luke Osborn, who refers to his dog Udo as his partner, insists “We say they’re a tool, but they’re more than that. The dogs are family to us. Udo has been an essential and vital component to saving my life at times, [and] other people’s lives and I think multiple instances recently have shown this to be true,” said Osborn.
Last month, The Signpost reported on one potentially dangerous police standoff successfully de-escalated without casualties by SCSO deputies including Osborn and Udo.
Osborn’s partner Udo is about to turn seven, which is close to retirement age for service dogs. Spike’s K9 Fund believes that “care shouldn’t stop just because the dog retired,” and donations are used to provide dogs with medical care after retirement as well. McCrossan says, “We see a lot of dental work that needs done. We see a lot of torn CCLs and that’s a couple thousand dollars that handlers don’t have on hand to pay for.”
According to Director McCrossan, Spike’s K9 Fund has helped close to 2,600 dogs across the nation in all 50 states, but there are still 25,000 service dogs in need who could still use their help. This year’s training classes are paid for by Tomahawk Strategic Solutions, a company run by several servicemen who were deployed with founder James Hatch.
To learn more about Spike’s K9 Fund and where you can donate, visit spikesk9fund.org.