King was a family dog in a bad family. The kid would tie him to a tree in the back yard and shoot darts at him, tormenting him so badly that the neighbors called the SPCA and King was removed from the home.
Deputy Ray Poole was a handler without a dog. In 1973, Sheriff Don Genung decided to try out a Canine Unit at the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO). At that time dogs were donated, not purchased. “We put an ad in the paper and asked for donations.” They also reached out to the SPCA. They were looking for German shepherds with the right disposition, dogs that might be a little too much for a family to handle but could be perfect for law enforcement. Poole was one of three deputies selected to be the first handlers, but with only two years on he was the junior guy, so the others got their dogs first. “It was the weekend before training was supposed to start, and I still didn’t have a dog.”
“I was on my way to work,” Poole said, “and I thought, I’m going to stop at the SPCA one more time. The lady told me they just got a German shepherd in.” There was just one problem. One of the workers brought him to the kennel to show him the dog, but wouldn’t go in. “He said nobody can go into the kennel; he tries to bite anyone who goes near him. Well, we didn’t want dogs who are biters.” A law enforcement K-9 needs drive and confidence, but not outright aggression.
The dog was standing up with his paws on the sides of the kennel, and Poole realized that he was stuck – his collar was caught on the chain link fence so he couldn’t get down. The worker was afraid to get close to him, but Poole wasn’t about to let an animal suffer. “So I went in the cage and walked up to him. He never tried to bite me. I unhooked him, he sat down, and then he and I walked out. I told them, I want this dog. He was a little younger than what we had asked for – we didn’t want a dog younger than 18 months, and King was only 14 months – but we were desperate at that point, and he was my last chance.”
It was a gamble that paid off. “I’m kind of bragging a little bit. King caught more people than any other K-9 had caught at that time in the nation.” In this context a “catch” includes not only apprehension of bad guys, but also finding missing people, and successful article searches.
School was 12 weeks, and though there have been some big innovations in K-9 training over the years, the concept was the same: baby steps. “We started out with the basics, patting them, getting to know each other, establishing that bond,” Poole said. “On the third day we started working on obedience – sit, down, come, heel. That took about three weeks of eight hours a day.”
Teaching King to track was harder. They started out locating articles, first throwing them, then hiding them, incorporating human scent. Later King would learn to track people, starting out with the subject only a few yards away and working up to more than a mile.
“I was lucky that I got a dog who wanted to work, wanted to learn,” Poole said. “He enjoyed what he was doing. He was ready to go to work every night.” King was also great at home and was gentle during demonstrations with kids. “He loved babies and toddlers, but the older kids made him tense.” Given his history of abuse by his former owner that’s not surprising.
King and Poole were dispatched on the very first PCSO Canine Unit call and made the very first catch. “We graduated on a Friday and were supposed to have Saturday and Sunday off,” Poole said. On Saturday morning, an elderly man who was recovering from a heart attack and sleeping on a cot in his dayroom was missing when his wife woke up. The dispatcher reminded the sergeant on scene that they had K-9s now and asked if one should be dispatched. No, the sergeant said, there’s nothing a dog could do out here. But a captain who wanted to promote K-9 overruled him and said to send a K-9.
“I walked King around where the man had been sleeping and then took him outside. King didn’t get a great track right away, but we were moving in the general direction of the nearby swampy area. All of a sudden he alerted and I knew he was tracking someone. We went out into the swamp in ankle-deep water. I broke through a clump of palmettos that were head-high and found a small clearing. The gentleman was laying there on his back. The water was creeping up on him. Luckily, he was on his back because the water was halfway up his head, not quite to his mouth. He couldn’t walk so I got him to a spot where the paramedics could get him.”
The missing man’s son was there, and while his dad was being treated he suddenly ran to his car and took off without telling anyone where he was going. A little while later he came flying back and ran up to Poole and King. Panting, he held out a thick, juicy steak to King, in thanks for saving his dad. “King wasn’t allowed to eat it though. We kept them on strict diets.”
That first call showed everyone the value of a Canine Unit. Afterward, the sergeant who thought they didn’t need K-9 said he’d never refuse a K-9 again. “After that people started calling us.” It was an auspicious start to a five-year career. “We worked well together. We clicked from the beginning.”
King’s last catch was particularly satisfying in its poetic justice. “A man broke into a house in the Seminole area. He raped the woman and killed her husband as he was calling for help. Poole and King were there fast and got a good track. “I tracked him across the street from Bay Pines. As I come around the corner of a house I see him.” The suspect took off running, with Poole and King in pursuit. “He’d go over a fence, King would go over a fence… and I’d scramble over the fence after them. Finally I turned King loose because I couldn’t keep up. The suspect came to a higher fence, but he didn’t make it on the first try. He turned to see where we were, and right then King bit him. And where he bit him – this guy would not rape anyone else again.”
“It was a very interesting time for me. It got me known, and it helped me get promoted later.” He was promoted to sergeant and worked patrol for a while. “Later I went into the Communications Center and helped bring the 911 system to the sheriff’s office in January 1978.” Before that, there hadn’t been 911 in Pinellas. Citizens had to call the individual agency. If they called PCSO and needed the Largo Police Department, PCSO would transfer them.
Where Poole went, King followed. “When I got promoted, I kept King. I wouldn’t have left if I’d had to give up my dog.” He retired from PCSO in 2005 as a captain.
A lot has changed in the 50 years that PCSO has had a Canine Unit – training methods, policy, and the source of our dogs. Today, we buy dogs from European stock. “My dog was free, and I’d put him up against any dog they have now. He was a great dog.”
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