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Saddle up! Calgary police horse Anzio reporting for duty

The Calgary Police Service presented service horse Anzio with his badge on Nov.10, 2021. The Calgary Police Service presented service horse Anzio with his badge on Nov.10, 2021.
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CALGARY -

New police horse Anzio received his badge on Wednesday in a special ceremony in southwest Calgary.

Though the six-year-old Percheron Standardbred-cross came to the Calgary Police Service (CPS) untrained, handlers said he displayed the basic traits and characteristics required to succeed in a policing environment.

After a year of intense training, Anzio— who is named after the battle of Anzio, which took place in Italy in 1944 — is now ready to officially join the force.

In 2016, the CPS began naming its service horses after battles fought by Canadian soldiers, including Vimy, Ortona, Dieppe and Normandy.

Anzio's badge ceremony was held at the Battle of Italy Monument in Garrison Square Park.

"Given that tomorrow is Remembrance Day, this is a week to remember our veterans, we thought it would be really special to come down here to the park and celebrate," Insp. Gerry Francois said.

The mounted unit typically participates in downtown patrols but also helps searching remote areas that are difficult to access like parks, pathways and riverbanks.

"Horses can cover a bit more ground than a human being," Francois said.

For example, CPS said in a recent investigation officers on horseback were able to cover a 60-kilometre search area per team, per day.

Service horses are also used with crowd management.

"A horse is probably worth ten members when it comes to maneuver and be effective with crowd management," Francois said.

The CPS mounted unit was formed in 1910 and ran until 1939 when the Second World War began. It was reformed in 1979.

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