The Sarnia Police Service‘s dog unit is fully staffed for the first time in nearly three decades, after a second handler-and-dog team joined the force in late 2025. The milestone means 2025 was the first full calendar year a canine team was deployed in Sarnia, Ontario in close to 30 years.
The unit reached full strength with the addition of Police Service Dog Shadow and handler Constable Kyle Vince. The pair graduated from training on December 3, 2025, and hit the streets on December 8. Shadow, an 18-month-old German Shepherd mix from Holland, was named through a student contest won by Dylan Clark.
The expansion fulfills a key goal laid out in the Sarnia Police Service Board’s 2023-2025 Strategic Business Plan. The board approved the second team in April 2025, one year after the first dog, Police Service Dog Vader, began working alongside Constable Shawn Urban.
Vader and Cst. Urban started patrolling in August 2024, ending a 27-year gap without a police dog on the force. In their first eight months, they were called out 71 times and helped make 49 arrests. That track record showed the value of having the dogs available, police leaders said.
Both dogs are trained in tracking, searching buildings and vehicles, and detecting drugs, guns, and ammunition. Their training was done by the Windsor Police Service, which runs a respected 15-week program. Cst. Urban and Cst. Vince each completed that training under Constable Lance Montigny.
The start-up cost for the first team was about $110,000, mostly to outfit a cruiser with a kennel, temperature controls, and special door releases. Adding the second team cost roughly $30,000.
Vader was born in Slovenia and is expected to serve until about 2032. Police dogs typically work seven to eight years before retiring.
