Police Dog Retired After Putting Bite on Crime for 10 Years
After 10 years of sniffing ships for narcotics, Magnum the police dog retired Thursday from the Port of Los Angeles Police in San Pedro as the department’s first member of the canine patrol.
Magnum, an 11-year-old golden retriever, will mothball his K9-1 badge and spend his retirement years with relatives of Officer Leo Stekkinger, Magnum’s partner in crime-busting.
“His job for the past 10 years has been to sniff out drugs that come in on cargo ships and passenger ships,” said Barbara Yamamoto, a spokeswoman for the port.
Magnum will be replaced with J’est, a 2-year-old Belgian Malinois trained in France. J’est speaks no English and only responds to French commands. His badge number will be K9-2. He’ll be working with a narcotics officer.
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