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Handler – Master CPO Richard Howald
Beloved K9 dies after 9 years of service
K9 Scout was a yellow Labrador Retriever who served as a K9 for the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. She arrived as part of the three-dog K9 team in 2011 which started the current DWR K9 program. DWR Conservation Police and Master CPO Richard Howald worked with Scout from 2011 to 2018, and she was a part of his family for 12 years.”When we got her, my kids were going off to school, and they’re in high school now,” said Howald. “She was great at tracking and locating evidence. She located many missing kids and Alzheimer’s patients. It’s one thing to find a criminal, but when you can find missing people and help them, it’s even more rewarding.” Scout’s hard work helping out on the K9 team was cut short temporarily in September 2017, when she was diagnosed with cancer in her hind left leg. The leg was amputated shortly after, but even the loss of a limb didn’t stop Scout from going back to work. She rejoined the K9 team for six more months before retiring at her scheduled retirement date in Spring 2018.From then on she lived with Howlad’s family as a pet, enjoying her well-earned life of comfort in retirement. “She was one of those dogs that worked hard when she was working, but you’d never know it just from meeting her. She was pretty laid-back; she took it easy until it was time to work,” Howald said of Scout. “I’d still run her every once in a while, have her find some articles, just to keep her happy and moving, but she mostly just hung out at our house.”On August 17 K9 Scout died at 13 years old. Her loss will be remembered by all she helped save and protect Virginia’s citizens and wildlife, especially by Howald and his family as a reliable coworker and beloved companion.“These working dogs become part of the family,” Howald said.
