Missing Santa Rosa police dog found in Windsor

<p>Taz, a Santa Rosa police dog, heard the repeated booms and crackles of fireworks Sunday night and probably thought it was gunfire.</p><p>That's when he bolted from his yard and leaped two fences to get to work.</p><p>But his partner, Santa Rosa police officer Mike Clark, was with his family at a Fourth of July barbecue and wasn't there to guide him, a chagrined Clark said Monday.</p><p>The four-year-old, 70-pound Belgian Malinois wandered Windsor all night. He ran his paws and nails down and developed a limp before he was found Monday morning and reunited with a grateful and relieved Clark.</p><p>The officer also was exhausted as he too wandered Windsor all night, along with several other law enforcement officers and friends, in a painful and unsuccessful search for the valuable dog.</p><p>“I can't even describe it,” said Clark, after he was back with Taz. “It's like losing your three-year-old.”</p><p>Many dogs don't like fireworks. The frightening noise will send plenty of indoor pets under beds. And distressed outdoor dogs often will perform unusual feats to escape their enclosures.</p><p>But Taz is trained to respond to gunfire, including to run toward a person shooting. And fireworks haven't bothered him in the past, probably because Clark has been with him, he said.</p><p>Because of the police dog's training, Clark believed Taz thought someone was shooting and he needed to do something about it.</p><p>“He can't discern between gunshots and fireworks. I'm not there. He goes charging out of the yard. He was looking for me because of what he was hearing,” he said.</p><p>Taz normally would be in his covered kennel while the Clark family goes away. But Sunday's predicted high temperatures made Clark decide to leave the dog in the reinforced yard.</p><p>Fireworks are illegal in the westside Windsor neighborhood but that didn't keep someone there from blasting off the pyrotechnics.</p><p>“We went to a barbecue, got home and pretty much the whole street in front of my house was packed with firework smoke,” he said. “I came into the house and backyard to check on him and he was gone.”</p><p>Security cameras at the home showed Taz running excitedly in the yard to repeated booms and loud noises.</p><p>Then the cameras caught most of his escape.</p><p>“...he literally backs up, takes a spring and jumps a 4½ foot gate and then a 6-foot padlocked gate,” Clark said. A board was broken on the second gate.</p><p>The dog disappeared before the family's return at about 11 p.m. </p><p>Clark said he drove every street in the region until about 4 a.m. in his patrol car. </p><p>At about 7:30 a.m., a Windsor veterinary technician heading to work in Forestville saw a large dog lying on the side of the road at Starr and Windsor River roads. </p><p>She called to the animal, who jumped into the seat of her car, and took him to work, Santa Rosa Lt. Steve Bair said.</p><p>The veterinary technician checked the dog for injuries and found a chip identifying him as European born. A Malinois isn't a typical family dog and with news about the missing police dog, she called Bair at about 9:30 a.m.</p><p>Clark hustled to Forestville:</p><p>“He saw me first. I turned the corner and he's absolutely exhausted but he immediately got up and limped over to the door and his tail's wagging and he started whining. I couldn't get the door to the kennel open fast enough.”</p><p>Not only was the fear of having lost the dog a personal one for the officer, but it could have been expensive for the department. The dog's training and ability now to sniff out narcotics places his worth at about $20,000.</p><p>Taz is one of four Santa Rosa police dogs. A fifth, Raven, retired last week.</p><p>Because of the dog's training, Clark and officials weren't worried about Taz being a danger to the public. The dog often interacts with school children as part of his duties. But Clark said he'd feared an encounter with an aggressive dog could have been dangerous for the other dog.</p><p>Clark said he hoped recovery time for Taz will be short. Immediately the dog needed rest, water and food and then a bath to remove mud, dirt and stickers from his fur. </p><p>“Now he's just resting and getting pampered,” Clark said.</p>