"Bringing It All Together" 

Return to Main Page

Return to Previous Page

Rest in Peace….K9 Alex, Badge Number K4, New York State Fire-Arson Bureau. You served diligently, faithfully, with great devotion, and executed with keen accuracy, thereby having a positive measurable affect on solving arson crimes in New York State.

Alex was accepted as a 15 month old by Golden Retriever Rescue of Central New York. He was surrendered as a “dominant male with too much energy for the household.” And this was substantiated by several foster homes and three adoptions, none of which lasted. Everyone thought they could work with this happy and loving boy only to discover that his energy level exceeded even the most committed of people. For example, Alex was obsessed with tennis balls that he would intentionally roll under furniture and then literally move the furniture in the attempt to retrieve the prize.

Then one night during an ice storm for which emergency responders gathered, a local EMT who is a member of the local Golden Retriever Club of Central New York discussed with Fire Investigator Dale Moone the use of a Golden Retriever for Arson Detection work. Although Labradors had primarily been used, Dale was receptive and soon was contacted by Golden Retriever Rescue of Central New York. GRRCNY may have just the perfect dog for this work – a dog with considerable drive and energy who needed a job. Alex finally might have a job. Was a miracle about to happen?

YES. Dale and Alex became buddies and training partners very soon, and on May 15, 1998, Alex graduated in a beautiful ceremony attended by many including GRRCNY volunteers. He had learned to detect by scent the presence of trace amounts of incendiary residue and to distinguish between traces of hydrocarbons used in flammables and those use in dozens of plastics also found among the incinerated remains of most fires. Alex and Dale were now a Certified Canine Accelerant Detection Team.

In the next ten years, Alex and Dale were involved in hundreds of cases and searches and the evidence detected by Alex led to arrest and conviction of many arsonists. Alex, in addition to his obvious talents in crime detection, was also the family companion that a Golden Retriever so wants to be with a special affinity for “Dad” (Dale), “Mom” (Joanne) and ice cream.

During the summer of 2007, Golden Retriever Rescue of Central New York, in frequent contact with Investigator Dale Moone, learned that Alex had cancer. Diagnosis and treatment at Cornell University School of Veterinary Medicine was provided and it was hoped that the cancer would not metastasize. This was not to be the case as we learned in the spring. On Mother’s Day, May 11, 2008, Alex died at Cornell Veterinary School in the presence of Dad, Mom, and a few other of his favorite things.

We are told that K9 Alex’s last requests were to thank Golden Retriever Rescue of Central New York for his second chance in life, the NY State Fire-Arson Bureau, the Fire Academy colleagues and his Dad and Mom. He wanted to leave us with the following thoughts:

“When you are done throwing the ball, throw it one more time. If you skip a walk, take two the next day. Make time for a massage and when your hands are tired, massage me a minute longer. Take time to include me in family events – snap lots of pictures. Frequently look over your shoulder at me and relish in the unconditional devoted gaze in my eyes affixed upon you. And, most importantly, make a new memory everyday. Thank goodness my Mommy and Daddy did all of these small things and more, as these little things make great memories, and these memories are all that you will have to fill the big hole when my short time on earth is done”

Alex was designated as the outstanding Rescued Golden Retriever in the country for 2002 and received the G.R.A.C.E. Award in recognition of that honor at the National Specialty of the Golden Retriever Club of America in Florida that year. We thank Rescue a Golden of Arizona for presenting the G.R.A.C.E. Awards.