Top dog: OPP’s newest canine member Vinny is on the job in Essex County

There’s a new sheriff in town and his bite is worse than his bark.

Actually, he’s not a traditional sheriff but a canine and his name is Vinny.

K9 Vinny and his partner OPP Const. Brett Holland arrived in December and are helping to keep local communities and surrounding areas safe as the newest addition to the Essex County OPP detachment.

Holland, who transferred from the Upper Ottawa Valley detachment, and Vinny — a two-year-old Belgian Malinois — recently completed a 21-week K9 general service course.

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This is the first police dog Holland has had as a partner. They have been together since July.

“Like the dogs, a lot of consideration is placed into handler selection as well,” Holland said.

He had to work with an experienced dog handler and go through an application process. That was followed by a seven-day, 24-hour intensive course.

Once he passed that, Holland and Vinny began the 21-week general service dog training, which they completed on Dec. 6.

Vinny is a general service dog with training qualifications that include tracking for lost or missing and wanted people, criminal apprehension and tactical obedience.

Holland said his partner will participate in a five-week firearms and drug detection training course in February.

“Vinnie and I are both extremely excited to be in Essex County, and we’re excited to be assisting the frontline officers with their investigations and contributing to public safety,” Holland told the Star Thursday.

OPP officials say the specialized K9 unit’s “timeliness to a scene is crucial.”

“Essex County OPP welcomes PC Brett Holland and his new partner Vinny and congratulates them on the completion of a very rigorous and demanding K9 Training Course,” said detachment commander Mark Loucas in a statement.

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“As the OPP’s largest detachment in the province, having the capacity to provide K9 Services in support of our communities is invaluable, and you can expect to see Vinny on patrol with his partner throughout Essex County.”

Holland and Vinny replace Const. Milan Matovski and his dog Maximus. Maximus retired in 2023 and Matovski, who is now a staff sergeant, recently transferred to OPP headquarters in Orillia.

Vinny lives with Holland but he doesn’t snuggle at night on the sofa with him.

A climate-controlled kennel was built in his backyard and the dog has access to fresh water at all times.

“The OPP makes sure that he’s well taken care of,” Holland said. “This is a dream job for me and he’s doing very, very well. He’s an exceptional tracking dog.”

Holland said his partner has a lot of drive and doesn’t have a lot of downtime, by his own choice.

“So he doesn’t come inside my house or anything like that,” Holland said. “He doesn’t really want to. He wants to be outside and he wants to be working as much as he possibly can.”

jkotsis@postmedia.com

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