Deputies Feel Loss Of Canine Colleague El Oso Was Brave, Lovable And Excellent At His Job

Bonner County deputies lost a fellow officer this week with the death of El Oso - a four-legged crime fighter and father of the county’s canine unit.

“People are taking it pretty hard,” said Lt. Doug Harris. “The way we look at it, he was a fellow deputy and you get pretty attached.”

The aging drug-sniffing, bomb-hunting German shepherd died of an unspecified infection Tuesday.

Officers held a procession for Oso as the deputy dog was taken to a local veterinarian to be cremated.

The dog’s handler and trainer, Bob Taylor, will keep Oso’s ashes in an urn in his home and officers are planning a memorial service for the canine later this month.

“He was probably the best police dog I’ve seen,” said Harris. “He really didn’t even need a handler, he could do it all on his own.”

Oso was deputized in 1989 and racked up a string a crime-busting feats. The all-black hound did more than 100 drug searches, finding $500,000 worth of narcotics.

Oso was one of the few canines in the area trained to find explosives, doing 114 building searches across the state.

During his career, the 10-year-old canine also captured 18 criminals, including two escapees from a Wyoming prison who made their way to Bonner County.

Taylor said Oso also was skilled at sniffing out corpses. The dog was flown to Boise County in southern Idaho several years ago to help find two murder victims.

Oso found the decomposed bodies in the woods, allowing prosecutors to file a murder charge and convict the killer.

“He was very good at what he did,” Taylor said. “But you wouldn’t know he was an attack dog when he was off duty.”

The canine only worked part-time for the county since 1993, because of injuries he suffered on duty. Oso once was smacked by a two-by-four wielding suspect, but still captured the man.

Oso’s bravery and lovable personality also sparked a new law to protect canines and search-and-rescue dogs in Idaho.

Sen. Gary Schroeder, Moscow, wrote the law in 1993 after meeting Oso on an airline flight, Taylor said.

Oso was the foundation of the sheriff’s department canine unit. He was the father of Duke and Dax and the grandfather of Pollux, three other county canines. Duke died several years ago, but the county still has four dogs.

“Oso’s death was a big loss. He was a great dog,” Harris said.

, DataTimes