Retired Marine dog trades military for family life
By Kawehi Haug
Advertiser Staff Writer
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
KANE'OHE — Roeska the dog picked the right place and the right time to retire.
Sgt. Adam Black captured a memento of Roeska, who retired yesterday during ceremonies at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i. The dog is just the second to be adopted under a 2-year-old program.
The 12-year-old Belgian Melinois, who spent a lifetime as a Marine Corps drug-sniffing dog, was treated to a retirement ceremony yesterday at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i and began his new life as family pet.
He gave adoptive owner Tammy Hoyt a kiss on the cheek before joining two-legged Marines for the ceremony.
Roeska (pronounced roh-ska) is only the second Marine Corps working dog in the nation to be adopted under a
2-year-old program, said Sgt. Justin Stephenson, Kane'ohe kennel master and Roeska's handler. Before that, all working dogs were euthanized upon retirement because they were deemed too aggressive to be pets.
Now some dogs, such as Roeska, can get a new lease on life if trial visits with pros-
pective adoptive families show the dog will not harm people.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
"I'm not worried at all about his personality. He's never been anything but gentle," said Hoyt, who lives on base with her husband, Lt. Cmdr. Brian Hoyt, a helicopter maintenance officer. "He fits right in. He loves our other (two) dogs and he's already a part of the family.
Adoptive owner Tammy Hoyt receives affection from Roeska. She and her husband, Lt. Cmdr. Brian Hoyt, live on base.
"As soon as I heard that he was up for adoption, I called my husband and asked if we could take him," said Hoyt, a self-described "dog mom."
In his 12 years as a USMC drug detector, Roeska conducted 227 drug searches, helped the U.S. Customs Service seize 56.7 pounds of marijuana and, in August 2001, helped police find the body of a missing Moloka'i man.
Stephenson said Roeska's retirement is well-deserved. After all, the handler said, Roeska's age is equivalent to that of a 63-year-old human.
