Countywide : Officers Bid Farewell to Gifted Police Dog

As 13 police dogs yelped and whined and their masters held back tears at the Sea Breeze Pet Cemetery, the Newport Beach Police Department on Wednesday laid to rest Dingo, a 10-year-old German shepherd who died last week after surgery.

Dingo’s handler, Newport Beach Police Officer Dave Stetson, read an emotional poem about the brave and obedient dog to a gathering of canine officers from as far away as Buena Park and Tustin, and about 20 Newport Beach police officers, including Chief Bob McDonell.

“It’s like losing a member of the department,” said Stetson, who wore a black band over the badge on his uniform. “He was a gifted dog.”

A varnished wooden box containing Dingo’s ashes will be buried in the cemetery, which is also the resting place of police dogs from Brea, Huntington Beach and Inglewood. Behind the box stood a framed picture of Dingo sitting on the beach.

“They were trained as a team,” Newport Beach Police Sgt. Andy Gonis said of Stetson and Dingo, who was one of the oldest police dogs in the county. “They experienced potentially life-threatening situations together. The dog and he were partners.”

The dog died Dec. 29 of complications from surgery to remove a cyst from a hind leg, Gonis said.

His death leaves the department with only two police dogs, one of which is near retirement age of about 10 years. The dogs specialize in rooting out felony suspects who are hiding from officers.

Because there is no money budgeted for another of the highly trained dogs, three residents of Newport Beach have donated a total of $16,000 to provide one.

It will be difficult to replace Dingo, whose duties included ferreting out hidden suspects, searching homes where burglary alarms had sounded and assisting in searches for missing children. Stetson gave the dog commands in German because Dingo was trained in Frankfurt, Germany. The dog’s full name was Dingo vom Haus Westfalen.

In addition to more than six years on the force, Dingo competed in international police dog championships and, according to Stetson, was one of the 50 best police dogs in the world.

“He was most obedient dog I have ever seen. He did everything well and read me very well,” the 13-year veteran said.

Tom Voth, another canine unit officer at Newport Beach, said that police dogs provide unusually good protection for officers. The dogs are trained to attack anybody who might lunge at their masters and are “a good psychological weapon. Most (suspects) see the dog and just give up,” Voth said.

In accordance with department policy, Stetson kept Dingo at home with him.

“He slept on the floor next to the bed,” Stetson said. “He went to softball games with me and visited my family. This is tragic and painful.”