Photograph by Chuck Savadelis
Cello took his work seriously, said Sunnyvale Public Safety Officer Bob Sorci (in background with white shirt and leash).
By KATHERINE PETERSEN
Sunnyvale Public Safety Officer Bob Sorci lost a partner and a best friend when Cello von Texaco died Oct. 16.
Sorci rushed the police dog to the veterinarian after he fell ill at work, but a viral infection had already done too much damage. Cello, a German shepherd, was 4 1/2.
Sorci and Cello worked as partners, searching Sunnyvale and other communities for bad guys and drugs. On the job last summer in a Santa Clara motel room, Cello sniffed out 10 ounces of methamphetamine hidden inside an ammo box in a backpack. For Cello, hunting down drugs meant play time. Sorci would replace his choke collar with a special leather one for such missions.
Cello found his last bad guy last month in Saratoga. The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department was pursuing a suspect who kept turning his truck around and coming at them. They had lost him in a neighborhood, and Cello, with his golden nose, was called in to help.
"Cello found him face down in the first back yard he checked. We told the guy to come out with his hands up, and he ran for the fence. We caught up to him, and then the guy decides to fight me. I gave Cello the command to bite. He went leaping from my right side, grabbed [the suspect's] left forearm and pulled him down to the ground," Sorci said.
The past two years, Sorci and Cello won second place overall at the Witmer-Tyson Kennel trials, and they had worked hard to get a first-place finish this November.
"I wish we could have had another year. ... We lost first place last year by just a few points," Sorci said.
Cello did his job well. He knew instinctively when Sorci turned off his police lights and would stand on the front seat, peering out the window and waiting for a command from his master, Sorci said. The sound of the siren sent Cello into a frenzy of barking and howling.
"There was nothing more difficult than pursuing a car with my siren on, trying to talk on the radio with Cello barking in my ear. He went bonkers with the siren," Sorci said.
While Cello served as a working dog, he and Sorci formed a strong bond of friendship. "I think he knew he was sick and might not make it, because he wouldn't look at me," Sorci said of Cello's illness.
If Sorci went out and his wife let Cello out of his kennel, he would take a piece of Sorci's clothing out of the hamper and lay on it or lay on Sorci's side of the bed until he got home.
"He loved to work, but he always needed his play time to relax and bring him down," Sorci said.
Sorci is interested in getting another dog. He committed himself to the K-9 unit for three years and has only fulfilled two and a half years of his obligation.
Chief Regan Williams told Sorci he will be paired with a new K-9 partner in February.
"It was a difficult decision. Part of me didn't want to get attached again," Sorci said.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, November 6, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.