An RCMP service dog is being lauded as a hero after helping officers rescue an infant from a potentially life-threatening situation in the Winnipegosis area last month.
Police service dog Marook and his handler successfully located a man who fled into the bush April 18 carrying an infant after allegedly threatening to shoot people earlier in the day. The baby was not adequately dressed for the “sub-zero temperatures,” Manitoba RCMP said in a May 1 press release.
The incident began earlier that day when Winnipegosis RCMP officers received a report about a man threatening to use a gun on residents of a home. Winnipegosis is a community located in the municipality of Mossey River.
Police allege the suspect then left the home with a baby shortly after 2:30 p.m. It was suspected the man, who was known to the home’s residents, was armed.
RCMP officers discovered the suspect’s vehicle a short time later and officers “saw the male leave the vehicle and flee on foot into the bush with the infant,” police said.
The RCMP called in dog services and Marook tracked the suspect two kilometres through a heavily treed area. Marook and his handler located both the suspect and the infant and the man was taken into custody.
“The infant appeared unharmed, and was handed over to Emergency Medical Services once officers hiked out of the bush,” police said. “It was determined the infant was not physically injured.”
The man arrested at the scene was not in possession of a firearm, police said.
A 26-year-old man is facing charges of flight from a peace officer, criminal negligence causing bodily harm, and two counts of uttering threats against a person in connection with the incident. Police said the man remains in custody.
The temperature on the day of the incident ranged between 0 C and -3 C, according to Accuweather.
Anyone who isn’t dressed for weather conditions is at risk from cold temperatures, but infants are at increased risk.
Babies are more likely to suffer injury from cold temperature exposure because their body heat is lost more rapidly, putting them at increased risk of frostbite and hypothermia, according to Manitoba Health.
Frostbite occurs when both the skin and body tissue freeze from prolonged exposure to cold temperatures. Hypothermia occurs when the body loses heat faster than it can produce it, causing a dangerously low body temperature.
