THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 19, 1996 TAG: 9607190452
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: 33 lines
Dingo, the German shepherd that sniffed out thousands of dollars in drugs and helped capture dozens of criminals for law agencies here, died of natural causes Wednesday in his kennel.
He was 11 years old.
Dingo von der Felderseite arrived here with his trainer, Randy Cartwright, in April 1988 after both spent months training in drug enforcement. Cartwright, now sheriff of Pasquotank County, was an officer with the Elizabeth City Police Department at the time.
Dingo was beloved by hundreds of school children who saw and petted him during public demonstrations of his skills.
But criminals feared him.
Dingo captured drug dealers who had eluded officers. In several instances, the criminal gave himself up when he knew Dingo was on his trail. Dingo even received several death threats during his eight-year tenure on the force.
Because of Dingo, police said, they seized an extra $10 million in cash and drugs.
Dingo recently retired from the Elizabeth City Police Department. But the canine cop still helped Cartwright on drug cases for the Sheriff's Department - and earlier for the Northeast Regional Drug Task Force.
He was not as agile as he once was. But his nose was still good, said Cartwright.
``He was great. It's a great loss,'' an emotional Cartwright said Thursday. ``I don't know how to put it in words. He was like a best friend.''
Dingo was buried in Cartwright's back yard. by CNB