The Pasadena Police Department and Police & Working K-9 Foundation, a California non-profit organization, hosted a Tactical Canine Casualty Care Course for law enforcement officers and their police canine partners Tuesday.
The course was held at the Pasadena Rose Bowl.
Twenty-five K-9 handles from eight law enforcement agencies (Pasadena Police Dept., Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept., Los Angeles Police Dept., California Highway Patrol, US Coast Guard, South Pasadena Police Dept., Alhambra Police Dept., and Whittier Police Dept.) were trained in the skills to assess their canine partner’s injuries and stabilize the dog for transportation and emergency veterinary care.
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Doctor Janice Baker and her team of Veterinary Tactical Group out of North Carolina led the day of learning.
Dr. Baker has 16 years’ experience a military veterinarian with over ten years with Special Operations Forces and combat deployments supporting working dogs. Her team of four instructors includes two former Special Operations Forces Combat Medics, a former Military Working Dog Handler with multiple military deployments, and a law enforcement canine handler with expeditionary, emergency canine care. The course was scenario-based exercises with an emphasis on treating gunshot and stab wounds.
Pasadena Police Department introduced its newest member of the Pasadena PD canine team, Officer Lynda Mercado and canine partner “Kyra”, a 2 ½ year old female Dutch Shepherd from Holland trained in patrol operations, suspect detection searches, and will be certified in explosives detection by May 2016. The acquisition of Pasadena PD’s fourth K-9 unit was made possible by the generous donation from the Pasadena Police Foundation.
Officer L. Mercado is a 19-year veteran of the Pasadena Police Department and the Department’s first female canine handler. Officer L. Mercado has been in law enforcement since 1998 and has worked several specialized assignments, including Field Training Officer, Special Investigations Unit, Burglary Task Force, and Event Planning.
