The back seat of Cloquet Sergeant Detective Scott Holman's squad car is empty these days. That's because his long-time K9 partner and companion, Tessa, had to be put down last week.
The Belgian Malinois, a breed well-known for what Holman once termed its "enhanced drives," was responsible for the recovery of more than a million dollars' worth of illegal drugs in Carlton County and surrounding areas. Her teamwork with Holman also led to the arrest of thousands of criminals and drug traffickers, many of whom plied the I-35 corridor between Minneapolis and Duluth, the department said.
And almost as frosting on the cake, Holman and Tessa repeatedly took top honors at police K9 competitions all over the country, a testimony to the dog's highly refined senses and diligent training.
According to Cloquet Police Chief Wade Lamirande, the idea to get a narcotics dog for Carlton County first came about during the time that Chief Duane Johnson headed the department. The state recently had determined that confiscated drug money should go back to the department responsible for making the arrest, and Johnson, Lamirande and Officer Tim Lamminen decided to ask the city of Cloquet for permission to use some of the local drug money for a dog.
Tessa was purchased with $3,000 of that money in 1999, with significantly more dollars going into training for her and for Holman. During her first few months on the job, she won "Top Dog" status at the USPCA Region 18 contest in St. Paul with a score of 199 out of 200.
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The partnership of Tessa and Holman extended beyond day-to-day law enforcement.
The pair traveled to schools and other events throughout the region to talk about Cloquet's drug enforcement initiatives and give people a glimpse of how skilled Tessa was in nosing out narcotics. Holman once stated that she could detect if someone had smoked marijuana in a car within the past two months and could track down a single tiny marijuana seed thrown in a snow bank.
The dog made her last major drug bust in February 2012, unearthing a stash of marijuana with a street value of $20,000. After Holman was promoted to detective, Tessa's time in the field was somewhat limited, but she remained on the job up until about six weeks before her death.
In recent weeks, after Tessa started eating less and losing weight, it became apparent that her overall health had begun to fail and it was time to have her euthanized.
Lamirande said the department has an interest in continuing its canine program in some capacity in the future, and the department has $10,000 in its canine fund from the year it hosted the 2007 Police Canine National Competition.
The canine program is expensive to operate, but Lamirande said he feels confident the city council will give it serious thought because of the outstanding success of Tessa in making the community safer.
"Without them, a lot more drugs would have wound up out on the road," he said.
