Today I would like to talk about one very special dog. At the end of 2012 Mato McQuaid, a K9 officer with the Appleton Police Department retired. We came to know Mato when he was referred for an orthopedic issue. Matt, his handler, and Mato became frequent fliers here at the Fox Valley Animal Referral Center so the staff got to know them both very well. To see the bond that these two have on and off duty is really pretty fantastic. They both rely on each other so much and at times appear to be more one than two separate entities.
Seeing them prompted us to nominate them to receive honors at the Wisconsin Pet Hall of Fame which Mato was recognized as the hero he is in 2010.
Many people ask if the K9 officer gets to live with the human officer and the answer is yes, Mato is part of the McQuaid family. Matt and his wife Jacquelyn have 3 children. Recently I heard that Jacquelyn who serves in the military was deployed overseas......so Matt and Mato are pulling all the parenting duties while she is gone.
Often when I see a K9 officer or any service dog, other than feeling overwhelming respect and compassion, do I think about their "home life". I thought about Jacquelyn's selfless choice to serve her country knowing it meant a separation from her family. I then found myself thinking what Mato must feel like when Matt leaves the house in uniform for the day with out him and she is not there either. I then thought what is Matt feeling leaving the house with out Mato? What does it feel like to come home knowing your spouse may be in danger? Both Matt and Jacquelyn are military and Matt is actively serving his community as a police officer so they are aware of the risks they face each day. With all these changes to their families daily routine, it is certainly a huge adjustment for them all.
On behalf of us all at the Fox Valley Animal Referral Center, we want to wish Mato a happy and healthy retirement, wish Matt the best of luck and lots of patience while he is a parenting solo, pray for the safe return of Jacquelyn and thank them all for their service to our country and community.
Here are just a few facts about Police Service Dog Mato:
Born –
4/4/2003 in Czech Republic
Trained as a
working dog in Czech Republic, titled SVV1, SVV2, IPO I, IPO II
Imported by
Adlerhorst International Police K-9 Academy, Riverside, CA – September 2006
K-9 Training
of PSD Mato / Officer McQuaid at Adlerhorst – September thru December 2006
· Trained
in subject detection, tracking, and illegal drug detection
Mato retired after six-plus years of service. He had some impressive stats with his Handler Officer McQuaid -Mato utilized on a total of 1,044 incidents including:
• 795 drug sniffs
• 73 drug search warrants
• 20 robberies • 20 burglaries
• 25 public demonstrations
Resulting in finds of:
• 4,134 grams (9.2 lbs.) of marijuana
• 135 grams of cocaine
• 14 grams of methamphetamine
• 112 drug paraphernalia finds
• 19 successful tracks of suspects
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Blog submitted by L Schuh of the FVARC
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