Police dog Chrisa shows female prowess among RCMP’s 31 four-legged male recruits

COQUITLAM, B.C. – The RCMP’s lone female police dog in the Vancouver area has sniffed out its first suspect, after a case involving an alleged armed robbery.

Chrisa the dog and handler Const. Jamie Dopson were on the scene just after midnight, when a man attempted to rob someone at an ATM machine in Coquitlam, B.C.

Dopson says Chrisa, the only female among the Vancouver-area RCMP’s roster of more than 30 police dogs, chased a track on the suspect for about 10 minutes before finding him hiding in a backyard.

He says the two-and-a-half-year-old dog’s accuracy and tenacity impressed him.

Chrisa and Dopson are the newest dog-handler team on the RCMP’s Lower Mainland police dog service, joining last December after honing their skills together for more than a year.

A 37-year-old suspect is custody, thanks to Chrisa and Dopson’s handiwork.