Remembering Vimy, the last military police working dog

Military Police Unit Halifax
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It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of the last military police working dog, Vimy, on the morning of Sept. 13.

Vimy was named to commemorate the great battle of Vimy Ridge during the First World War, which was situated in the north of France. The battle spanned from April 9-12, 1917, and saw more than 10,000 Canadian troops either killed or wounded.

The name “Vimy” represented a military nexus to policing, along with a call to service within the Military Police Branch.

Vimy was enrolled into the Military Police Branch in July 2008 after successful completion of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Canine Program with then Cpl Caron.

Vimy was trained as a general service police dog for the Military Police Branch. It was a career that lasted for 12 years alongside his partner, WO Caron. Although Vimy was a general service dog, he also had a specialization in narcotic detection.

Dog and partner trained with the OPP at the beginning of their career. They became certified in a variety of profiles including tracking suspects/missing persons, drug searches, searching ships, and officer protection. Together they worked countless hours with partnered policing agencies such as Halifax Regional Police, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canadian Border Services Agency, Ontario Provincial Police, and Corrections Canada.

Vimy and WO Caron helped bridge many relationships with partner police agencies through the K9 program.

Throughout his career, Vimy followed WO Caron with police responsibilities to MPU Halifax (twice) and 2 MP Regiment, Detachment Petawawa. During the prime of Vimy’s career, he and WO Caron attended, on average, 130 calls of service a year.

Vimy retired from duty on March 31, 2020.

Vimy will be dearly missed. Anyone who would like to send messages, letters, and condolences can forward them to david.bamford@forces.gc.ca.

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