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Beloved Search and Rescue Bloodhound Aided Police, Succumbs to Cancer
He was always called “Joker,” short for Canine 832 Joker’s Wild, and for five years, this bloodhound assisted police in Middlesex County on countless missing persons and other investigations. In 2015, after a young woman was violently assaulted and left for dead, Joker found a track and led law enforcement officers to a residence, and ultimately led to the identity of her attacker. On Sunday, Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew Carey announced that Joker, the patriarch of the Middlesex County Canine Search and Rescue Team, had died from a progressive cancer at age 10. “Middlesex County Law Enforcement has lost a loyal partner who served the County honorably,” Carey said. Joker, he said, “Will always be known as the leader of the team.” “Although the Team will continue to assist in missing persons investigations with Canines 832 Aleck William Wallace and 832 Beckett, Joker will be missed by my entire staff and the many municipal officers that have come to know and love him,” the prosecutor said. Carey said Joker was a purebred search bloodhound purchased from the 832 K-9’s Deputy Dogs Kody Snodgrass Memorial Foundation located in Florida. Among those who were located through the bloodhound’s ability were people suffering from dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, autism, suicidal ideation and individuals considered endangered because of their young age, authorities said.
