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LOST State Police K-9 Alpena, MI area

8K views 30 replies 19 participants last post by  HankGSD 
#1 ·
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#5 ·
Help find missing MSP K-9 Bane!!!

Join "Find Bane" on Facebook. Help spread the word. Lets help him get home for the holidays. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001840963274

The search continues for a member of the Michigan State Police.

Four-year old tracking and drug dog Bane went missing on Saturday.

Troopers from across the region are holding on to hope that they can find the dog.

"He got tangled up, when I dropped his lead to get him untangled, a small deer had bedded up less than five yards from where we were at, and he got on him and he took off right away," explained Trooper Jamie Bullis, Bane’s handler.

Bane is a four year old Michigan State Police tracking and drug dog. He was one of three tracking dogs in Presque Isle County woods helping locate a missing man on Saturday. Bane took off, and it's been a massive search since. Trooper Bullis hasn't had much sleep.

“He's about as much to this department as I am, or any other trooper to this post. There are people alive in our community because of the work he's able to do," said Bullis.

Bullis has assistance from the Houghton Lake and Traverse City K-9 units, the Presque Isle Sheriff's Department, and officers who are giving up their off-time to help with the search to help locate the $10,000 specially trained dog.

"These State Police Canines, there's a lot of resources put into them, for what they're trained to do," said Sergeant Gale Owen of the Michigan State Police Alpena Post. “This is the only K-9 on the Northeast side of the state."

“People in the community have been amazing, guys have been giving up their opening day of hunting season to help find him," said Bullis.

Now they talk about community collaboration, and here's an idea of how strong it is in Presque Isle County. The back roads, the Road Commission came out and graded all of them, so if the dog crosses, there will be fresh footprints.

"It’s trooper Bullis's partner, he's had that dog for two years, and it's part of his family," said Owen.

“Dog lovers might be able to relate somewhat, but, he's my partner, and right now, I'm just concerned for his safety and you know, get that radio call, get that phone call that he's been found, it's going to be joy, anger, happiness, and rage at the same time," said Bullis.

There have been some reported sightings of Bane, and the police are searching a large area south of Onaway. Trooper Bullis also had Bane's crate at the spot he went missing, hoping the K-9 will come home.

Bullis says the dog is docile and will come if you call him.

He also says after the dog is found, he hopes the state will purchase a GPS device, and if it's not in the budget, he'll use his own money to do so.

If you've seen Bane, please contact the Michigan State Police at 989-734-2204 or 989-354-4101.


  • Location: All areas of MI
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#6 ·
oh NO...bless your heart bane, hoping you are found safe and sound!
 
#7 ·
Too bad they couldn't have gotten another tracking dog to track Bane. Come home Bane!
 
#10 ·
Does this story seem....odd...to anyone else? How would a police dog not have near perfect recall? And the story says "he'll come if you call him". Maybe I'm paranoid but something seems a little "off" about this story to me.
 
#11 ·
He chased a deer. If you are on FB you can find the info and posts on there about the situation.
 
#13 ·
it sucks he's still gone, and i feel sorry for him and his partner. but i do have a legitimate question about his escape.

am i wrong here or shouldnt a working police dog have a bullet proof RECALL?
 
#15 ·
One possibility is that a hunter visiting the area may have picked him up/transported him to hunters hometown...so the more exposure, the better...keep crossposting!
 
#18 ·
I would imagine if the dog took off after the deer and was out of sight in less than a second, the trooper didn't have much time to call him off before he was already either too far gone to care, or too far to hear.

Jamie's scouring a tip area tomorrow with a bitch in heat, and I hope he finds Bane. I've been following this since the beginning as well and it would be great just in time for christmas.
 
#19 ·
"Does this story seem....odd...to anyone else? How would a police dog not have near perfect recall? And the story says "he'll come if you call him". Maybe I'm paranoid but something seems a little "off" about this story to me."

I thought the same thing when I read it, Dee. I live about 2 hours from where the dog was lost; a good friend of mine who does English Springer rescue and is a retired fire marshal whose parents live in Alpena was up there the week after the loss. I thought they should be looking into the officer's finances....did he sell this dog? Trade it? Search and rescue teams are not usually solo...and search dogs generally wear more equipment than just the collar the officer claims to have taken off because "it got tangled"...too many questions for this cynic. At any rate, I hope the dog is safe and well. There have been no updates heard around here.
 
#20 ·
"Does this story seem....odd...to anyone else? How would a police dog not have near perfect recall? And the story says "he'll come if you call him". Maybe I'm paranoid but something seems a little "off" about this story to me."

I thought the same thing when I read it, Dee. I live about 2 hours from where the dog was lost; a good friend of mine who does English Springer rescue and is a retired fire marshal whose parents live in Alpena was up there the week after the loss. I thought they should be looking into the officer's finances....did he sell this dog? Trade it? Search and rescue teams are not usually solo...and search dogs generally wear more equipment than just the collar the officer claims to have taken off because "it got tangled"...too many questions for this cynic. At any rate, I hope the dog is safe and well. There have been no updates heard around here.
Why would the Officer be spending so much money if he had sold the dog for personal money? The way I read the story was that they weren't solo, they were out with a team looking for the dementia patient, when Bane got tangled. He didn't take his collar off, he dropped the leash to untangle him, when he fled. There was never any note as to what else he may have been wearing.

I'm sure when he went out into the woods with other troopers and k9s and came out without Bane no one thought he did a secret hand-off in the woods to sell Bane. :wild:
 
#24 ·
Thought I would revive this thread. They are now asking hunters to be on the lookout for Bane's remains now that it is hunting season in Michigan.

I can't figure out how to post the latest flyer, but if you go to the Facebook page "Find Bane" there are some pics and flyers that you can post on your own Facebook page, or maybe someone else can post it here.
 
#29 ·
How would a police dog not have near perfect recall?
I could see how a police dog might not have "near perfect recall".
Not sure if you realize how they pick the guys who will be k9 officers but it's not for their ability to train dogs. Mostly it's someone who might not mind a dog living in their home, or just someone who said they owned a dog once! Our PD chose as a k9 officer, someone who just liked dogs, I don't even think he had his own dog then. But he was one of the few who would actually put dogs in his squad car to haul to the shelter. Most of the other guys would refuse to even handle a stray dog!

The officers then go through academy with the dog, who has already been trained, and the officer then "learns" the dog. And since it's usually leashed (scent dogs anyway) there is no great need to have said officer learn to train recall.
The main thing they are focusing on is how to read the dog's signals that indicate it's on the trail of something.
That is, the k9 officer isn't actually training the dog himself although they work the dog on an ongoing basis.
 
#30 ·
Isn't this the story that was circulating last year at this time? I could have sworn so....
 
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