This week, Police Dog ‘Eddie’ hung up his collar and retired after ten years with Gwent Police; their longest serving Police Dog.
His handler, PC 2001 Andrew North has worked with Eddie all of his life after taking him on as a puppy in 2010. He had the pleasure of covering all of Gwent in both East and West hubs.
PD Eddie is a talented Labrador springer spaniel cross known as a ‘Springador’ and has worked as a drugs dog, meaning he was trained to locate all of the mainstream drugs.
He was also trained as a firearms recovery dog, meaning that he would be sent to crime scenes where it was suspected that a firearm had been used.
Eddie is a hard-working dog and likes to eat, he loves to play with his tennis ball and loves to be ‘cwtched’ – But most of all he likes to eat!
In his career with Gwent Police, PD ‘Eddie’ took part in an abundant of force operations and attended the Olympics in 2012, where he was tasked with searching Wembley Stadium for the week.
His trainer, PC Andy North said:
“Eddie continuously turned up results for me, and there are literally hundreds of finds I could mention. I can remember his first result which occurred during his first operational search, whereby he located drugs hidden in a cabinet at a premises in Newport. He had several ‘large’ finds of cocaine, on one occasion locating an amount totalling approximately £100,000.
“On another occasion, I can recall him locating used shotgun cartridges which linked offenders to some serious offences. These were located following a search of a very large open area.
“Another notable find was when he located cannabis hidden in a sealed thermos type flask. He also located the cash that had been earned selling the cannabis, which was hidden in between plates that were piled up in a cupboard.
“And a time I will never forget, was when he was tasked to search a car for drugs. He began to show interest in a baguette in the passenger footwell. Now being a Labrador, Eddie was always eating things, so I went to intervene, only to realise Eddie was indicating on the baguette. On further investigation, the baguette was found to contain numerous wraps of heroin.
“His final find was a small pack of cocaine located in a cupboard during a house search.
PC Andy said: “Eddie was my first drugs dog. Your first dogs are always memorable, but for me, Eddie is especially so. I took him on as a 6-month-old puppy after he was gifted to us by a member of the public, and have watched him develop from thereon.
“He has given all of his life to serving Gwent Police, and it’s public, and has done so with such enjoyment. I’m sad to not see him in the back of the van anymore, but very happy to see him starting a new chapter at home with my family enjoying the retired life he has earned. Thanks, Ed.”
Chief Constable Pam Kelly added:
“Our Police dogs are instrumental in a variety of police work, from helping us find missing or vulnerable people, to helping us tackle serious and organised crime, including drug supply – their talented work helps our police officers bring criminals to justice and keep Gwent communities safer.
“A lot of their work is often unseen by the public, but when you see our dogs at work, it really is exceptional – our police dogs are a part of our policing family, and we could not be without the unique skills of both the dogs and their handlers.
“I’d like to thank PC Andy North and especially PD Eddie for the commitment they have shown to Gwent Police and the public working as a fantastic team – I wish PD Eddie the happiest of retirement.”
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