Harley (front) and the Red Deer City Victim Services Unit. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

not goodbye, but see you later

Service Dog Harley receives fond farewell from Victim Services Unit and RCMP

Sep 2, 2022 | 3:02 PM

It was a heckin’ bittersweet Friday for members of Red Deer Victim Services and Red Deer RCMP who officially saw Harley off into retirement during a celebration at the downtown detachment.

Harley, a very good boy, has been a service dog for Red Deer Victim Services since 2018, coming out of the Dogs with Wings training program. At the time he joined, the Notre Dame High School grad class of 2018 had chosen him and Victim Services as its annual grad donation recipient.

Since, the now-six-year-old Black Lab has helped 300 families.

“Harley has worked over 700 hours with probably the worst of the worst files that we get. It’s a lot of trauma, and if you’ve ever seen him in court or in action elsewhere, it’s something amazing,” said an emotional Sgt. Karyn Kay, who heads Red Deer RCMP’s Community Response Detail Section. “He allows children the time to calm down and provide testimony, which helps to secure convictions. We are very proud of the work that he’s done.”

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Harley’s presence around the detachment will be missed, Kay said, because he’s typically around when members get back from high-risk, high-stress situations.

“He’s right there when we need him,” she added. “There are so many stories about him. He’s been there for homicide victims’ families and for victims of sexual assaults. We’re working really closely again with Dogs with Wings that has some more dogs they’re in the process of training. We’re hoping to get a new one by January, and we do have access in an emergency situation [in the meantime] if we have the need.”

Cst. Grace Jeanveau, Victim Services Program Manager, said people don’t realize the impact a pup like Harley can have.

“It’s hard to put into words because it’s often a very visual thing. Harley and his handler Suzanne make a really great team, and they’ve changed the way we support victims who are going through terrible things,” said Jeanveau. “I don’t think we’d be a complete unit if we didn’t have a dog like Harley on our team.”

Suzanne Couturier, court support worker and support dog handler with Red Deer Victim Services, said her time with Harley has been very rewarding.

“It’s pretty sad. I will miss him a lot. It was an exciting time and an honour,” said Couturier. “I didn’t know what it’d be like working with a canine partner or having a partner at all. The impact he’s had on my career and the entire community is awesome. We were able to be part of something big.”

Couturier notes that because of the nature of the work dogs such as Harley do, six to eight is the typical age of retirement.

To become a service dog through Edmonton-based Dogs with Wings is a two-year process, which includes extensive testing.

rdnewsNOW requested comment from Harley, but he was too busy eating cake, and couldn’t get back to us in time for pawblication.

Harley eating cake, too busy to comment. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)