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Introducing the Shabradoodle, Vancouver's hypoallergenic police dog

Suspected bad guys who are allergic to dogs can now breath a sigh of relief. The Vancouver Police Department launched its Hypoallergenic K-9 Program on Saturday morning.
Shabradoodle
Vancouver police turned to a geneticist to breed a dog that won't trigger allergies and can sniff into all the small cars that a German shepherd can't get into.

Suspected bad guys who are allergic to dogs can now breath a sigh of relief.

The Vancouver Police Department launched its Hypoallergenic K-9 Program on Saturday morning.

 

“Working with a local dog breeder, the VPD has genetically modified a German shepherd, Labrador retriever and a poodle to create a Shabradoodle,” Staff Sgt. Randy Fincham announced in a VPD video. “The new genetically engineered K-9s will have the drive of a German shepherd, the search capabilities of a Labrador retriever and the smarts and hypoallergenic qualities of a poodle.”

The Vancouver police department says it takes the allergy concerns raised by VPD staff and apprehended offenders seriously. As well as not setting off anyone’s allergies, the Shabradoodle will be smaller. In a city of smaller and smaller cars, this allows it to sniff in all the nooks of crannies that a full-sized German shepherd can’t.

The VPD hopes to be deploying a Shabradoodle on the belt of every VPD officer by April 1st, 2018.

“We feel that we have a responsibility to our staff and the public to create an allergy free work environment,” Fincham added. “By deploying hypoallergenic police dogs, we hope to attract allergy prone officers to our K-9 program, officers who could not have worked in a potential allergic environment in the past.”

For more information about the VPD Shabradoodle program, and how you can be a dog handler in an allergy-free work environment, please refer to VPD's video.