'An invaluable addition': Regina police introduce new facility dog, Sinclair

A new facility dog was welcomed into the Regina Police Service (RPS) on Wednesday morning.

The police service held an official welcome at their headquarters to welcome Sinclair, named after Canadian soccer star, Christine Sinclair.

Sinclair, who is now two and a half years old, has been training since he was just eight weeks old with the Pacific Assistance Dogs Society (PADS).

He received over 1,200 hours of advanced training and knows 35 different commands, according to an RPS news release.

“Sinclair has been an invaluable addition to the team and I can’t wait to see the impact he makes,” Sinclair’s handler, Sgt. Young said in the release. “He has already assisted in numerous investigations where because of his calming presence, has made it a little bit easier on victims and/or witnesses of crime or trauma.”

Now that his training is complete, Sinclair is ready to lend a paw as an emotional support for children and victims of crime if they have to describe a traumatic moment in their lives.

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Sinclair is also trained to sit for multiple hours straight while acting as a companion during police investigations, he can attend follow up exams at the hospital for children who are victims of child abuse and assist with vulnerable adult medical exams.

Sinclair’s predecessor, Merlot, retired last year after eight years of service.

Merlot assisted with 325 forensic interviews and 385 support visits in court. She also assisted officers with over a dozen critical incident and mental health debriefs, police said.