CALUMET - The Michigan State Police will always know where its canines are.
All of the state's 29 MSP canines have been outfitted with Global Positioning System collars so they can be tracked and retrieved if they are lost.
The Calumet post received theirs at the end of October, said Lt. Mike Loyd. The post has had a dog since October 2010.
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Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette
Vince, the police dog at the Michigan State Police Calumet Post, shows off his new global positioning system collar at the post Tuesday. All of Michigan’s 29 MSP dogs recently received the collars, which were purchased through a $5,000 donation.
"If ... we lost a canine, the canine has the transponder on their harness," he said. "If we needed to track them, we could go through a dispatch center who would uplink to the site ... they could direct us to where they are."
The GPS units were purchased with about $5,000 in donations, according to an MSP press release. The MSP lost its first police dog last November, when Bane, a dog from the Alpena post, disappeared during a search for a missing man.
Calumet hasn't had to use its GPS yet, Loyd said.
"Hopefully the need won't arise," he said. "But in case you do, it'll be a nice thing to have."