Winners of the 2009 RCMP “Name the Puppy” Contest announced

INNISFAIL, Alberta, April 6, 2009 – Ten lucky young Canadians have each won the privilege to name a working dog from the RCMP Police Dog Service Training Centre (PDSTC) “Depot” Division. PDSTC received over 8,550 individual and 343 school entries—an unprecedented number in the history of this popular contest.

As in previous years, participants were creative and imaginative, submitting names starting with the letter “B”. For multiple entries of the same name, winners were selected at random. And the winners are:

• Brock: Aidan Schafer, age 8, Red Deer, Alberta
• Bailey: Zahara Wolsynuk, age 10, Whitehorse, Yukon
• Breeze: Vanessa Harris, age 11, Keremeos, British Columbia
• Bullet: Joel Dyck, age 15, Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan
• Barry: Taylor Shurb, age 11, Brandon, Manitoba
• Badge: Lauren Neufeld, age 10, Smithers, British Columbia
• Blaze: Rickey Smith, age 11, Amherst, Nova Scotia
• Bounty: Randi Johnston, age 15, Makinson, Newfoundland and Labrador
• Bella: Julie Morneau, age 13, Saint-Isidore, New Brunswick
• Barack: Marc Richard, age 6, East Royalty, Prince Edward Island

The winners will each receive a 5×7-inch laminated photograph of their “officially” named puppy, an RCMP ball cap, a plush dog named “Justice” and a certificate. Please note that the other entries will also be used to name future puppies.

The three winning classroom submissions are:

• Dinsmore Composite School, Grade 1/2, Dinsmore, Saskatchewan
• École de la Rive-Sud, Blockhouse, Nova Scotia
• Westwood School, Grade 3, Thompson, Manitoba

Each classroom will receive an 8×10-inch laminated photograph of RCMP puppies, a plush dog named “Justice” and a certificate.

“The PDSTC would like to thank all the children who took the time and made the effort to submit names for our potential police service dogs. RCMP police service dogs are an integral part of front line policing. They track and apprehend criminals, remove illicit drugs from the streets, search and recover articles as well as people,” stated Corporal Whitney Benoit, non-commissioned officer in charge of the Breeding Program. “It is gratifying to know that Canadians realize and understand the importance of our police service dogs and are playing an active role in naming those who will be responsible for saving lives and protecting our communities,” concluded Benoit.

The PDSTC, “Depot” Division, is the national training centre in Canada for all RCMP police dog teams. Currently, there are 132 multi-purpose operational dog teams in Canada and 23 specialty dog teams that detect narcotics or explosives. The RCMP Police Service Dog Breeding Program has produced over 100 police service dogs that have been in service to Canadians and over 65 dogs that are working with Search and Rescue and with other police agencies in Canada and the United States.

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For more information:

Inspector Lawrence Aimoe,
OIC Police Dog Service Training Centre, “Depot” Division
Phone: 403-227-7001

Corporal Whitney Benoit
NCO i/c Breeding Program
Phone: 403-227-7019