Bak who is now 10 years old was sent into a vacant building after a fleeing suspect. He decisively "apprehended" the suspect with a firm grip, while being hit around the head with the suspect's fists.

After the suspect surrendered and Bak returned to Officer Roth it was evident that he had been very seriously injured. Bak was transported to the vet where he was listed in critical condition with severed tendons, arteries, and veins. In the ordeal, Bak lost nearly ? of his total blood volume. After skilled care and a recovery period, Bak returned to full duty. The suspect was charged and warrants issued on multiple counts, including "Assault on a police animal".

We first met Bak in 2001 when at the age of 3 he won top honors in the category of Evidence Detection.

Chaiver (one of our youngsters, even though we saw him last year at the age of one) was nominated using two of his detection incidents. On one, at a hotel, he located 227 pounds of marijuana and $5000 in cash. The 5 dealers, who had attempted to mask the drugs' odors, were taken off the streets. In the second incident, Chaiver's search of an entire residence, over a pound of cocaine (with a street value of nearly $50,000), marijuana, 3 stolen guns, and $30,000 in cash were seized. Part of the drugs was hidden in a 50 pound bag of dog food.

The suspects' deviousness was no match for this K-9's abilities and determination. At his age of 2 years, it looks like he will be out smarting a whole lot of suspects in his career.

**Michael Werges & "Riki" Eureka P.D.

This is the third year in a row for Riki winning this category, even though he is only 5 years of age. He was used many times to assist in the recovery of evidence used in solving cases and in prosecutions.

In one of his examples, Riki's nose was used to track down and locate two individuals who eventually confessed to 20 burglaries and 25 cases of breaking into motor vehicles. In a second case, at the request of another police department, Riki was asked to search a residence for evidence, even though it had already been searched, in part, by officers. Riki located drugs on the main floor and perhaps, more importantly, a hidden make-shift greenhouse for growing marijuana in an unfinished part of the basement.

Unfortunately, we award this honor posthumously, since Blek lost his battle with cancer last November. In 2004, Blek won the category of Protection and today we recognize him for his tracking achievements.

In his nomination incident, Blek was asked to track along railroad tracks, over sidewalks (with broken glass and trash), across a grassy vacant lot, through an alley and finally onto a street where the suspect was spotted. The suspect began to run and after a warning, Blek was set loose to apprehend. Out of sight of his handler, Blek apprehended and detained a fighting suspect for Officer Bailey. The track took place at 1:30am covering over a half of mile and multiple surfaces. Blek was also awarded the USPCA's Patrol Catch of the Year for this incident.