This post is part of an ongoing series featuring items from the newly acquired Julio Mario Santo Domingo Collection.
Well eight foot walls at least! Meet Rex III, a black and tan Alsatian who was trained to detect dope and help catch criminals. Rex worked with the Flying Squad, a special crime unit with London’s Metropolitan Police and received several medals for bravery. My Dog Rex is a biography of this extraordinary police dog written by his handler, Arthur Holman. Holman not only trained him but fed and sheltered him at the family home.
Rex III was credited with one hundred and twenty-five arrests and even starred in the film Police Dog. Holman relates that in an effort to help Rex look his best for the film he “…filed down Rex’s nails until they were all the same length, asked my daughter to clean the dog’s teeth more frequently, and gave his coat an extra shine by brushing into it a small quantity of special oils.”
Dogs are no strangers to law enforcement, during the Middle Ages money was specifically put aside in villages for bloodhounds who were used to hunt down outlaws. Bloodhounds known as “slough dogs” in Scotland are believed to be the genesis of the word “sleuth.” One of the first instances of the police using dogs to combat crime in the 19th-century was during the investigation of the Jack the Ripper murders. In 1954 the Metropolitan Police Squad in London established its current program which still actively uses police dogs today.
My dog Rex ; the story of police dog Rex III, told by his handler. New York, W. Funk [1958, c1957]. HV8025 .H6 1958. can be found in Widener Library’s collection in the Hollis catalog.
Thanks to Alison Harris, Santo Domingo Project Manager for contributing this post.