Failed Police Dog Has New Life As Media Star

A Labrador retriever in Taiwan named Roger couldn’t cut it as a drug-sniffing police dog – apparently too playful to be a cop – but he has since emerged as a rescue dog and something of a media star.

( Let’s note right here that unruly dogs in the US don’t always get second chances. We’re looking at you, proudly dumb dog-killing governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem.)

The 8-year-old Roger has been part of the rescue teams in the aftermath of the powerful earthquake that shook eastern Taiwan on April 3. The Lab  located the body of the earthquake’s 13th victim, a 21-year-old woman buried on a hiking trail in Taroko National Park.

As a pup, Roger was trained at the Customs Administration's Detector Dog Breeding & Training Center in Taichung to be a drug-sniffing dog. Or anyway, they tried to train him. Roger couldn’t hack it because of his playful nature and difficulty in obeying “one command, one action,” the rescue team leader Chen Chih-san told Taiwan’s Central News Agency.

Having failed as a narc, Roger was enlisted in the Kaohsiung Fire Department. Over the past four years he has taken part in seven search-and-rescue missions, including the recent foray in the national park. Most of the dogs (more than 60 percent) in Taiwan’s rescue squads are labs; the other breeds include German and Belgian shepherds and Jack Russell terriers.

Roger is obviously a very good dog, and he is also media savvy. At a recent news conference he attempted to gnaw on a reporter’s microphone, an antic that played very well with the public. At another, while Roger’s handler  commended his bravery, the doggo tore apart a soft toy and scattered its stuffing everywhere. The viewing public loved it.

As hot as he is now, Roger's turn in the spotlight will be over soon—per fire department policy he must retire when he turns nineChen said the lab will then be adopted out into a good – and lucky – home.

Photo credit: Focus Taiwan via Facebook