Desperate hunt for lost police dog

Constable Mike Wakefield and his dog Thames at the 2013 Wairarapa Police Pay Parade. Photo / File

A devastated police dog handler returned to the rugged Tararua Ranges amid heavy weather warnings yesterday to search for his dog that vanished in the mountains two days ago.

Senior Sergeant Mark Davidson, officer in charge of the Wellington police dog section, said Wairarapa Constable Mike Wakefield, who is also a volunteer firefighter in the region, had been keen to speak publicly about the help and support he and his fellow searchers had received since Thames disappeared.

A press conference set down for yesterday morning involving Mr Wakefield had been cancelled and he had instead struck out again for the mountains, Mr Davidson said.

"Last night he was saying he wanted to talk to the locals because of the support there's been over here for him and Thames.

"But this morning he was not really in a fit condition, he was awful. That's why we bunged him back up there to keep searching."

"His wife this morning was tearful and his kids. Because it's a pet you know.

"When the dog's not working, he's under your feet getting into trouble and trying to find food, like any pet. He's a member of the family."

The 3-year-old sable-coloured German shepherd had been working with a search and rescue team on a day-long exercise when he became parted from his handler in the Totara Creek to Red Creek area at Mt Holdsworth late Sunday.

"He was working with the team down a really hard spur and it's unknown how, but he just got separated.

"The terrain was rough and visibility was bad."

Mr Davidson said a team of eight volunteers including two other dog handlers were yesterday scouring the area where Thames was last sighted.

Two more dog handlers were patrolling roads near the popular tramping area and Senior Constable Tony Matheson, head of Wairarapa LandSAR, camped in the mountains last night in the hopes of Thames finding his way to him. Searchers were relying on Thames being attracted to their scent and despite the "outside chance" the dog had been injured in a fall, Mr Davidson remained confident the animal could still walk out hungry but otherwise healthy in seven days' time or more.

Mr Davidson, who has been a policeman and dog handler for 39 years, was aware of a similar incident involving a police dog, which cost $40,000 to $60,000 to train and maintain.

"We did have a police dog go missing about 10 years ago in similar circumstances but it wasn't for as long as this."

There were 19 police dogs and handlers in the greater Wellington region, he said, and working in Wairarapa alongside Mr Wakefield and Thames was dog handler Constable Lloyd McKay and his dog, Link.

He said calling out could scare the dog, which was likely to be passive and desperate for human contact after so long alone.

"If he's been in an area where there are people or where people have been the human scent will draw him like a moth to flame," he said.

"He just won't be able to help himself and make no bones about it, after this long he'll be bloody desperate to find somebody who'll say gidday."

Mr Davidson said heavy weather forecast for the area tonight may force the search to be scaled down or put on hold.

"We could sustain the search for a while yet but it depends on what's sensible and what's realistic. Tonight is just not realistic, not with the weather looking like it is. It's just for the safety of the teams otherwise we would just keep going."