Children across Canada are invited to help name 10 police dog puppies for the RCMP at their Police Dog Service Training Centre (PDSTC) in Innisfail.
The RCMP is asking young people (16 and under) to be original and imaginative in suggesting names for the German Shepherd puppies, born at the training centre, that will be trained as working police dogs. There will be 10 winners selected.
Inspector Lawrence Aimoe, officer in charge of the PDSTC, says, “In 2010 PDSTC received over 9,000 individual entries. This contest provides a tremendous opportunity for Canadian children to take part in a police program that saves lives and protects their neighbourhood.”
Contest rules state that contestants can suggest only one name (one entry per person, although more than one entry per household is acceptable as long as each participant only submits one name per postcard).
The name can be for a male or female pup, must start with the letter “D” and be no more than nine letters and one or two syllables. Contestants should print their name, age, address, telephone number and the suggested name on a postcard and mail it to Name the Puppy Contest, Police Dog Service Training Centre, Box 6120, Innisfail AB T4G 1S8.
Deadline for the annual contest is March 7 and the winners (to be chosen by PDSTC staff) will be announced April 4.
In case of multiple submissions with the same name a draw will determine the winning entry. The PDSTC breeds and trains RCMP police dogs. Currently, more than 160 dogs from the centre work within the force and other partner agencies.
In April of 2009 eight-year-old Aidan Schafer, a Red Deer student, won the contest to name the puppy. In a moment of inspiration he named it Brock after Const. Brock Myrol from Red Deer, one of the four RCMP constables killed in the Mayerthorpe tragedy March 3, 2005.
Last fall, Aidan and his family, along with Const. Myrol’s parents, who live in Red Deer, all got to meet police dog Brock and his handler Corporal Jason Butler.
The German Shepherd, now nearly two years old, is a graduate from the PDSTC and is on duty in Bay Roberts, Newfoundland & Labrador.
acryderman@reddeerexpress.com
