Children of fallen police officers name Dog Unit’s new recruits
The children of police officers who have died on and off duty have coined creative names for the NSW Police Dog Unit’s new litter of puppies. Tara Marsh helped name the canines this year. Her dad, Constable Nathan Marsh, died in his sleep in 2005.
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The NSW Police Dog Unit’s newest and fluffiest recruits are adorable but have another reason to melt your heart — they were named by the children of deceased officers.
The pups were given names by a group of NSW Police Legacy children, including Tara Marsh.
Tara was too young to know her father before he died suddenly in his sleep in 2005 although she has spent hours watching home videos that captured her dad, Constable Nathan Marsh, holding her as a baby between shifts at Kogarah police station.
Tara and other NSW Police Legacy kids voted on names — which had to start with an A — at a camp earlier this year.
“We were around the camp fire and (a Legacy volunteer) got us to give some dog names and we all had a bit of a vote,” Tara explained as the pups ran around her feet.
“The favourite ones were Anzac, Apollo, Annie and Ava.”
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Ava has been rehomed as part of the breeding program while Anzac and Apollo will be trained up over the next 12 to 18 months to eventually become fully fledged general purpose canines.
That means tracking down criminals on the run, searching for missing people and sniffing out evidence at crime scenes.
While this year marks 50 years since Apollo 11 landed on the moon, Tara revealed Apollo’s name was actually inspired by a contestant on reality TV series The Bachelorette.
Constable Marsh was a police officer for nine years before he died unexpectedly at the age of 31.
At a time of immense grief, Tara’s mother, Sarah Marsh, found comfort and common ground with the police legacy family.
When Tara was ready at 14, Mrs Marsh hoped her daughter would find the same support with young legatees.
“For Tara, it is meeting other kids who have gone through the same thing,” she said.
“Though she didn’t experience the grief because she was a baby, indirectly she experienced it.”
Last week, Bree, 11, and Caleb Gardener, 10, also got to meet Anzac and Apollo for the first time after the names were picked.
The siblings’ father, Parramatta Constable Adam Gardener, died in 2014 from cancer.
He was diagnosed only two weeks earlier after seeking treatment for a back injury.
Widow Gail Gardener said getting her kids involved with legacy was about “them not feeling alone”.
“Sometimes kids don’t like to talk to adults, they have other kids they can speak to,” she said.
NSW Police Legacy chair Gary Merryweather said letting the kids name the dogs was about cementing a connection with the police family.
“It is important because it embeds that connection back to the policing family and all these kids who have lost a parent who is a police officer,” he said.
“When your parent is a police officer, you hold them up in very high esteem. It is more of a life than a job.”
There are about 100 canines attached to the NSW Police Dog Unit.
They are generally on duty until the age of seven or eight before they are retired.
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