Trooper Jeremy Forbes on Champ's Life:

K-9 Champ was a rescue dog that was donated to the State Police by the Greater Portland Animal Refuge League. He was about 3 years old when we started to train him to be a police K-9. It was clear from the start he had a "different" personality and simple loved life and going to work. 

 

One of the first days we had him my young daughter wanted to walk him. I tried to explain to her that he was very strong and even Champ didn't know his own strength. She insisted so I gave her the leash and wished her good luck. She soon found herself flying through the air and being dragged on the ground. She got up off the ground, wiped off her hands, and agreed that it might be a few more years before she could walk him on her own. 

 

Another event that truly showed Champ's work ethic was a practice track I conducted with him in South Portland. Another officer walked through the woods so that we could track him. During the track I sprained my ankle and dropped the leash. To my dismay Champ continued to track and would not come back. Champ tracked on his own for about a half mile before finding the officer hiding behind a tree. You can imagine the officer's surprise to see Champ coming at him full speed with nobody at the end of the leash. The officer took out a tennis ball to reward him and then walked him back to find me. The running joke with the other K-9 handlers was Champ could have tracked a lot better without me holding him back .

 

Champ was used in coutless drug investigations by agencies such as the United States Drug Enforcement Agency, the FBI, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, and local police departments. K-9 Champ was instrumental in taking off the streets of Maine countless amounts of drugs such as heroin, crystal meth, and cocaine. It will never be known how many lives were saved due to these drugs not getting on the street. Often agents from these departments would call me directly on my personel cell phone to see if Champ was available to help out. 

 

There are countless stories of great drug seizures involving Champ, one took place in Sanford in 2014. A man from N.H. was stopped and it was suspected he had drugs somewhere in the vehicle. Champ provided an indication the drugs were somewhere in the gas tank. We located the drugs hidden here and the man was later sentenced to almost 20 years in federal prison. 

 

Champ was very successful at tracking people. Champ successfully tracked several individuals over his career that were suffering from a mental health crisis and walked into the woods. Champ located these people and they were able to get the help they needed. 

 

In September 2014 Champ tracked a fugitive from Florida that had ran from Game Wardens. The man was found but continued to run and refused to stop for police. Champ was sent after the subject and held him until I could try to arrest him. During this time the subject punched Champ in the head several times but Champ refused to let go and the man was arrested. Champ knew he had a job to do and refused to give up even after being hit in the head several times. 

 

As nice as finding drugs and taking fugitves off the street are, some of my favorite memories with Champ are conducting K-9 demonstrations for community events. People always loved seeing Champ demonstrate his skills during these events and being able to ask questions about him. Many places would call year after year to have Champ come back. One such place was the Biddeford Vocational High School. They have a Legal Studies class that I attended with Champ for a number of years. The students loved having Champ in the classroom and would often comment to the teacher that Champ was their favorite guest speaker. I tried not to be offended by that . 

 

I will never know how many lives Champ saved by either taking drugs off the street or finding someone in the woods that needed help. But I do know that Champ was the best partner I could ever ask for and that my family lost a piece of us on Wednesday, March 24th, 2021. We will never forget him.