NRP Mourns Passing of K-9 Bear

The Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) mourns the death last weekend of K-9 Bear, assigned to the Central Region.

Born on Nov. 5, 2004, Bear was purchased as a hunting dog. But when the owner realized he did not have time to train the black Lab, he donated it to Delaware Fish and Game.

In 2006, Bear met his handler, Sgt. April Sharpeta for the first time as they began 10 weeks of K-9 school at Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The dog was certified with the U.S. Police K-9 Association to track people, search for items and detect illegally harvested deer, turkey, ducks, geese and bear.

Just two weeks into his NRP career, Bear assisted Havre de Grace Police in locating a suspect who stole a vehicle. It took Bear just eight minutes to track the suspect, who suffered life-threatening injuries from crashing the vehicle, to a cornfield.

One week later, Bear made his first gun recovery while tracing the steps of three suspects. Bear pulled off the human track to find the gun.

“It is an amazing and rewarding job to train as a K-9 team,” Sharpeta said. “We created an unbreakable bond that allowed us to understand each other without even speaking. All of the time and effort pays off when you find a person, return an article or locate illegal game.”

Bear’s final efforts involved finding the gun on state land left by a suicidal subject and tracking two homicide suspects from the crime scene to the site where they were apprehended.

On Sept. 26, Bear–ever the goodwill ambassador–greeted hundreds of families at a National Hunting and Fishing Day event in Marriottsville.

Two weeks later, on Oct. 9, Bear died after a short illness, his partner at his side.

“K-9 Bear was an outstanding dog. I am proud of the cases he made along with the loyalty that he showed me,” Sharpeta said. “He will always be my greatest accomplishment at the Natural Resources Police.”