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Handler – Const. David Kerkhof
‘Your legacy will continue to inspire us’: Hamilton police dog Scout dies four years into retirement
A retired Hamilton police dog whose keen nose helped find multiple missing people — and arrest dozens of criminals — has died.Police announced the death of Scout “with a heavy heart” Friday, saying in a social-media post the German shepherd served with “unwavering bravery and dedication” during his decorated career.“His contributions to our community and his spirit of service will forever be remembered,” police said in a post to X, formerly Twitter. “Our thoughts are with Scout’s handler and all who had the privilege of knowing this remarkable dog.”Scout was born in Hungary and imported to a kennel in Belgium before brought to Hamilton via an Orangeville broker.After being trained by Waterloo Regional Police (Hamilton now has its own training program), he worked in the city for nearly seven years, using a vast array of skills to locate hiding criminals and seize evidence like narcotics, firearms and money.But it was the canine’s uncanny capacity to track human scent — and find missing people in desperate situations — that made working with him so rewarding, his handler, Const. David Kerkhof, told The Spectator after Scout’s retirement in January 2020.Among the most memorable of those missing person searches came in March 2018, when a 93-year-old man was missing near Centre on Barton.After spending the night outside, Scout found Romeo Marinilli hidden in bushes off a set of train tracks. The senior was suffering from hypothermia and died almost a week later, but his family thanked Kerkhof and Scout for finding him and giving them time to say goodbye. Kerkhof attended Marinilli’s funeral.In another case, there was a Waterdown woman who was suicidal and had overdosed. It was summer and she was missing.After a night-long ground team search turned up naught, Kerkhof recalled he and Scout went out the next day alone. Within minutes, they found the woman deep in the woods and near death, a breakthrough that saved her life.There, too, were plenty of times that Scout tracked criminals. Over the years, he helped locate suspects hiding under decks, wedged in between fences and inside sheds.“The big thing for me is the dog is able to find somebody police were not able to find on their own,” Kerkhof previously told The Spectator.One such example was when Kerkhof and Scout tracked a suspected impaired driver, whose escape from an OPP RIDE lane in Brant County spurred a massive, high-speed police chase through multiple jurisdictions, including Hamilton and Niagara. After crashing on Highway 407 near Appleby Line, the suspect jumped into the woods, taking off some of his clothing as he ran further and further.Kerkhof remembered he and Scout tracked the man for almost 45 minutes. At one point, Scout lost the scent, but Kerkhof let him off his leash and the canine caught the scent in the air. The duo ultimately found the suspect hidden in dense bush.Scout spent the past four years in doggy retirement living with Kerkhof and his family. Kerkhof previously said working in the canine unit was the “highlight of my career.”“Best job I’ve ever done.”
