The members of the Woodstock Police Service are mourning the death of Taz, the department’s police dog, who died this week after ingesting drugs while helping with a Stratford investigation.
Woodstock police said its canine unit had responded to a call to assist from Stratford’s police service during a drug investigation on Monday. While conducting a search, Taz and another Woodstock police dog, Striker, both appeared to ingest drugs. Police quickly administered Narcan – a drug used to temporarily reverse an opioid overdose – and rushed both dogs to a veterinary clinic.
While Taz died, police said Striker stayed at the clinic for observation but has since returned home.
Taz joined the Woodstock Police Service began his training in 2021. He was officially deployed last year, allowing Striker to transition into more of a community service role. Police said Taz was young but respected among the police canine unit community after developing into “an outstanding detection dog.”
In his short career, Taz assisted with a number of arrests, drugs and weapons investigations, missing persons investigations and community service engagements. Police said Taz was well loved and cared for, and will be greatly missed by his family, the entire Woodstock Police Service, his canine unit friends and colleagues, and all of the groomers, vets and therapists who worked closely with him.
Woodstock police said those involved with this drug investigation were arrested by Stratford police and charged. The Stratford Police Service was unavailable for comment on the investigation Wednesday evening.