‘Part of your family’: New RCMP Heritage Centre memorial honours fallen police dogs

WATCH: A memorial was unveiled on Wednesday in honour of RCMP service dogs who have died in the line of duty.

A new memorial unveiled at the RCMP Heritage Centre on Wednesday honours police dogs who have been killed in the line of duty.

A large turnout of RCMP officers in Red Serge and other uniforms were on hand to see the memorial’s unveiling firsthand.

Twenty-three police service dogs are honoured on the memorial with a brick bearing their name along with the date they died.

The project was a partnership between the RCMP Veterans’ Association Foundation and the Friends of the Mounted Police Heritage Centre. Many current serving and retired police dog handlers were also in attendance.

They all agreed that many police dog handlers become very close with their K-9 partners, partners who will give their all and expect nothing in return.

• Download the CTV News app for local breaking news alerts on your smartphone

“It’s a different bond, the experience working with police dogs, just in that how much time you spend with them,” Cst. Lorne Burles said. “How much you learn from them, just the hours and hours spent driving, at home they really do become part of your family. So, when they pass a part of you dies too,” Burles said.

The RCMP began using dogs in 1935. It stands as the longest continuously operating police dog program in North America.

-With files from Gareth Dillistone