Archie survived Category 5 hurricane in the Bahamas before being rescued and making journey to University with Chief Cary.
Chief Alice K. Cary, MS, walks down the street, a four-legged officer close beside her. “Lexi!” someone shouts — a nod to the University of Maryland, Baltimore Police Department’s (UMBPD) comfort K-9 who joined the department in June 2019. The chief smiles at the mostly white dog beside her. “Nope, this is Archie!”
Archie joined the department in December 2019 to help meet the overwhelming positive response to UMBPD’s comfort K-9 program. Hundreds voted on a name for the new pup, with “Archie” — a nod to Arch Street on UMB’s campus — winning by a landslide. (If you’re curious, “Poppy” — a nod to Poppleton Street — was the overwhelming winner if the new comfort K-9 had been female.)
The 1-year-old has an incredible story: Born on Grand Bahama island, Archie was living in a shelter when Hurricane Dorian, a Category 5 hurricane, hit the island. A 10-foot storm surge came through and wiped out most of the shelter. Miraculously, he survived. Rescuers grabbed swimming dogs from the attic of the shelter. Archie was flown to Helping Animals Live and Overcome (HALO), a no-kill rescue in Florida. There, he was selected to become a therapy dog and join the Paws and Stripes College.
Canines in the Paws and Stripes program are shelter dogs at a significant risk of being euthanized. The dogs are paired with inmates for eight weeks and go through basic obedience training. In December, Cary drove down to the Paws and Stripes College, run by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office in Florida. She met her new comfort K-9 — then named “Batman” — and spent a week training with him. As Archie’s handler, Cary spends 24/7 with the dog and takes him home on evenings and weekends.
Over the holiday break, Cary took Archie with her to visit family in Flint, Mich. On Christmas Eve, as Cary went to pick up her son at the airport, Archie ran out of her mother’s house. Local law enforcement, media, and community members spent days helping Cary search for the K-9. He was found alive on Saturday, Dec. 28, dirty, but happy.
Archie is a Bahamian potcake — a mixed-breed dog found on several Caribbean islands. The name “potcake” comes from the rice-and-pea cakes that locals scrape from the bottom of their pots and feed to the dogs. While his official breed is unknown, Cary speculates he might be part retriever and part Australian shepherd. She hopes to get a dog DNA test to find out Archie’s actual genetic makeup.
Whatever his breed, the happy-go-lucky pup seems excited to be on UMB’s campus and loves meeting new people. To schedule a visit from Archie or Lexi, visit www.umaryland.edu/police/comfort-k-9/