By Michael Hall
The Brunswick News
CAMDEN COUNTY, Ga. — Even the highly specialized training police K-9 tracking dogs receive cannot remove their natural instincts. A dog is still a dog.
The Camden County Sheriff’s office learned that Sunday night sometime before 9 p.m. when Hannah, a bloodhound tracking K-9, dug out under her kennel in Woodbine and ran free for nearly 20 hours before being found in the vicinity of the city.
On and off-duty deputies, with the helpful watch of Woodbine residents, searched most of the day Monday for the energetic bloodhound and finally found her around 3 p.m.
“She just dug out under the fence of her kennel,” said William Terrell, spokesman for the sheriff’s office.
Although some police K-9s are trained in apprehending criminals among other things, Terrell said Hannah is a sweetheart that just happens to be an excellent tracker.
“The bloodhounds, they’re strictly for tracking,” Terrell said. “We have three (of them), and they are all excellent at it.”
Hannah has been Dep. Matt Turner’s partner for a little more than a year and has been involved in several tracking missions with good success, contributing to several arrests.
Terrell said the Camden County Sheriff’s Office has been one of only a few agencies in Southeast Georgia with multiple bloodhounds for tracking, meaning Hannah has assisted throughout the region.
Hannah’s eagerness to work may have made her a little more difficult to locate and catch. A Facebook posting about her escape alerted those who were keeping their eyes out for her that “she is very friendly but probably will not come to you if you call her name.”
That proved true around 9 a.m. Monday morning when she was sighted in Woodbine, but was not caught.
A happier Facebook posting appeared shortly after 3 p.m. that said: “K-9 Hannah has been found alive and well. She will be getting checked out and then headed home with her handler. Thank you to everyone who helped us look for her and helped us spread the word.”
Copyright 2015 The Brunswick News