LAB RESCUE SUCCESS STORIES

From Lab Rescue of LRCP

K9 Officer Xena
Adopted February 2001

My name is Detective Shirley Disney and I have been a

police officer in Baltimore City since 1995. In 2001, I was
assigned to our drug unit and they asked me to become a
K9 Officer. I was assigned a yellow lab named Max. Max
was a big old goof, a real lover boy who had no interest in
finding illegal drugs.

Now if you hid a ham bone he would be all over that. Max
quickly flunked out of the program. Please dont be sad for
him because theres a happy story for him, too. My boss at
the time took Max and made him a house dog. Max went
on to help my bosss young daughter, who had problems
learning to walk.

She and Max were inseparable. Throughout the years I

would hear from time to time how Max was doing and how
he helped out that little girl. Max passed away about a year
ago but he found his calling.
Due to Maxs inability to find narcotics, I went on to search for another Labrador. In February 2001, I adopted a tiny black
female lab who was about 54 lbs., and 14 months of age. Her name was Holiday but I quickly changed it to Xena. Back on
that cold February day, the K9 Supervisor and I responded to the Vets to see if this Labrador had what it took to become a
Baltimore City K9. They took us in the back to a kennel where she was plastered to the back of a cage. She was a tiny little
thing, jet black in color but all I could see were her big dark brown eyes.

I called her name and she would not budge. When I looked into those eyes all I could see was she was in need of some
TLC and some encouragement. I could instantly see that she and I were meant for each other. So I got down on my knees
and without saying a word, that little girl sprang out of that kennel and knocked me down and showered me with kisses.
My K9 boss laughed at me, gave me a leash, and told me to meet him outside with her. When I got outside my boss pulled
out a tennis ball, and threw it into a pile of bushes. The next thing I knew, I was pulled into the bushes by this little lab. She
searched for that ball until she found it and when she popped out of the bushes she had stickers and all kinds of things all
over her. My boss instantly said, Shes in the program.

Xena was about a month behind the other dogs in the program but within a few days she caught up to them and soon
passed them all. Xena was one of the first female dogs, and one of the first Labrador dogs assigned to Baltimore City. She
and I were trained to locate narcotics but after about a month on the street she located so many handguns that the city
brought us back and qualified us on handguns as well. After graduation, we were assigned to a DEA Task Force-H.I.D.T.A.
(High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area).

Our responsibilities were to report to facilities that criminals would

ship illegal narcotics through (i.e. Fed-Ex, UPS, the U.S. Postal
Services). Every day, Xena and I would scope out the packages that
ran across the belts of these facilities. Xena was by far one of the
best drug dogs the city had. Together, we received numerous letters
from the DEA, the U.S. Postal Police, the MD State Police and
Baltimore City Police.

But Xena was not just a police dog, she was my 4-legged friend. She
was a part of my family; hell, she was my family when I had no family
at all. She saved my life in so many ways and one day in particular she
alerted me to a wanted man that was hiding behind a door when we
came in to search the room for narcotics. I truly believe she was my
angel that day and she saved my life.

Due to a hip injury, Xenas police career only lasted until 2005. In
those 4 short years, she was responsible for the seizure of more
narcotics than any other dog before her time in the history of the
Baltimore City Police Department. Because of her success in the
narcotics field, other Labradors followed in her footsteps with the
Baltimore City Police K9 Unit. During her career, Xena was put on
display many times to show other handlers what to look for when
searching for a Police Labrador.
When she retired she went on to become a great companion. She loved everything and anybody that came into her path.
She loved fetching sticks, chasing balls, catching frisbees, swimming in pools and she always had some kind of stuffed
animal, shoe or sock in her mouth. At one time, I named each of her stuffed animals and when I called out their names,
she would go fetch them and at the end, they were just all her babies.

She was smarter than the average 5th grader. She loved the neighbors dog and adored the cats that lived in our house.
She showed her emotions through her ears and her face and in the way she ran around the house with her tail tucked
between her legs. She played with everything that moved: even her milk bones, she would toss those bones in the air and
when they landed she would pounce on them. Occasionally, I would find milk bones behind the couches. She was a happy
dog who made me a happy person.

On May 15th, 2014 I let her go to a better place. I put her police badge and her MD State ID badge on her and I wore my
Police Shirt to honor her and she died in my arms. She was at peace, and at home and she was surrounded by the people
that she loved and those that loved her. I picked May 15th because every year that day marks Police Officer Memorial
Day and Xena was a Police Officer that had 4 legs, badge # 2359.

!
!

This is a happy story, with a sad ending, but an ending that I am okay with because I know my Xena Pena, my Sassy
Pants, my ZZ is in a better place and one day she and I will meet again. I miss her every day.

- Officer Shirley Disney