Midnight will work to the point of exhaustion—his best friend and handler’s exhaustion, that is—and still keep drudging on without stopping, until the job is done.
“He is very determined to find his goal because he wants his toy,” K9 handler Cpl. Damon Clark, with the Deland Police Department (DPD), told reporters after they successfully reunited a lost 3-year-old boy with his family on Friday, March 29.
All available assets and officers had been deployed that day to conduct a massive search focused on a wooded area behind the home of a family in DeLand, Florida, who had called in their missing son at 11:30 a.m.
Cpl. Clark and his K9 partner, Midnight, arrived at the home, and the boy’s mother brought out a blanket to give a scent to the dog trained in locating narcotics and missing people.
“He kind of acts a little squirrely once he gets the odor, so then I send him on and he pulls,” the officer said. “We went on a 15 [-foot] lead, it gives him a little bit more room and leeway to bracket back and forth, and so I hang on and enjoy the ride.”
Plowing headlong into the dense thicket, the officer braved abrasive scratches to follow a now-energized Midnight to where he was leading them. Cpl. Clark read the K9’s movements to understand what was being told and sensed. It wasn’t long before the sounds of the boy’s crying were heard and they honed in on him through the vines, trees, and shrubbery.
Midnight is “very enthusiastic, he’s very loving,” the corporal said. “So he knew what he was tracking, and once he found the little boy he started licking him. Ran up to him, was licking his face, licking his arms.”
The rescue represents their fifth missing person successfully recovered. Despite being bloodied and working up a sweat, the officer says it was “well worth it” to reunite the child with his parents.
For Midnight, though, another reward was in store.
“The dog tracks for his toy, so that’s his payment. So he’s like, ‘Hey, I found it, where’s my toy?’” the officer said.
“He would not stop. He wasn’t going to stop. I would physically exhaust myself well before the dog would,” Cpl. Clark said, speaking of Midnight’s work ethic. “As you would see from some of the videos, he was dragging me through the woods and he wasn’t going to stop.”
A father himself, the officer added, “I understand what it would be like to lose a child even for just a few minutes. It would be traumatic, so it’s always awesome to complete the mission.”
“The boy was unharmed and returned safely to his family. Officers gifted him with a DPD teddy bear, part of a recent donation to our department,” they wrote, posting photos of K9 Midnight, his handler, and the family with the child, safe and sound. “Good work to all teams involved! This is the outcome we hope for in these situations, a safe return!”
