Good boy retires after 10 years of sniffing out drugs, money and dead birds
Rusty will be adopted by his partner, CBSA dog handler Laura Hiscott
At the ripe old age of 11, a 10-year veteran of the Canada Border Services Agency is officially retiring.
Ready for his pension of Milk Bones and tummy rubs, Rusty hung up his detector dog leash for good on Friday.
"He's been an incredible partner, he's been a lot of fun and I'm really looking forward to spending some time with him on a more personal level, than as a professional," said his handler, Laura Hiscott.
Rusty was adopted from the SPCA when he was just eight months old and spent the bulk of his life at the Calgary International Airport working as a detector dog.
After his last shift, Rusty will be heading home with Hiscott, where he will become a "spoiled" member of her family.
"Our policy is always that the handler get to keep their dog if they are able to, and I certainly am not letting him go anywhere," Hiscott said.
Over the course of his career, Rusty was responsible for around 7,000 contraband discoveries that led to the seizure of $187,000 in undeclared currency, 120 kilograms of narcotics and even a jar of dead baby birds.
His hard work yielded more than $400,000 in penalties, the CBSA said.
A new detector dog will be announced for the Calgary airport in the next few weeks.
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