The Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (RSLPF) will not seek French assistance in investigating the sudden death of Tyson, a star narcotics and firearms K-9, despite public calls for an independent probe into the suspicious demise of the gifted police dog.
Commissioner Verne Garde confirmed to St Lucia Times that France, which donated the German Shepherd in July 2023, is not involved in the ongoing investigation, though he praised France’s canine programme as a model. “I visited the initial home for Tyson, and I can say the French invest heavily in the maintenance of their canine unit,” Garde said. “I was impressed by that.”
Tyson’s recent death has sparked outcry, coming just months after the dog helped intercept more than 4 000 of the 4 200 ammunition rounds seized this year.
“He made breakthroughs, especially in getting firearms and ammunition,” Garde noted, calling the loss significant to border security efforts.
While the RSLPF investigates the unexplained death, Garde has ordered construction of a new K-9 facility, vowing to expand the now-depleted unit. The force currently has just one remaining dog, Voyou (“Gangster” in French).
“We are resilient people in Saint Lucia,”
Garde said. “We will expand our canine unit to ensure we have strong representation on our borders. We will let nothing, nobody, and no incident slow us down.”
The commissioner’s commitment comes amid lingering questions about Tyson’s death, with authorities pledging to release findings when their probe concludes.
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France shud be involved. Only that way we may get some answers
Woooie and rightfully so…….they are bawling for France to involve and inject their resources to uncover the cause of death at whose cost ??? The amount of expenditure that would occur just to have a toxicology report to insinuate yeah or nay could be well spent in the procurement of four additional dogs along with the development of an expanded K Nine Facility and excellent common sense approach commissioner.