DEBBIE JACOB
ARMY OFFICERS on their morning jog at Camp Cumuto resembled a scene from a movie until the canine police training police puppies on the army compound noticed something.
'Look! Sorty is running with them,' the police corporal said.
Sorty, the pothound, lives at Camp Cumuto. Members of the former Special Operations Response Team (SORT) named him Sorty because they thought his spots resembled camouflage.
The small dog, exceptionally white, plump and fluffy for a pothound, has one black ear and one white, spotted ear. The black rings around each eye resemble a mask. A thick, black band of fur on his tail looks like a service stripe.
'He runs with officers while they train, becomes very serious if any stray dogs approach the working officers and he chases the dogs away,' said a former SORT officer.
Sorty kept everyone's spirits up during the pandemic. For me, he became the perfect Christmas story filled with joy, faith and kindness.
Nobody recalls exactly when Sorty came to live at Camp Cumuto. One SORT officer recognised the dog when he noticed him roaming around the compound.
That officer said while coming to work one morning, he saw the dog's owner dump him in the bushes in the vicinity of the nearby University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) campus. The car sped off.
'The dog attempted to run after the vehicle, but he couldn't keep up.'
Sorty turned around, walked up the road to the army compound and never looked back. He soon figured out clever ways to get fed.
'Other stray dogs lie around and do nothing. They rummage in garbage cans, but not Sorty. He doesn't eat garbage,' said an officer.
Sorty hung out at the canteen and waited for handouts. Eventually, he walked right into the SORT building. Every evening, he walks up the stairs to look for a particular room where officer W works.
He taps the glass door with his nose and whimpers. Officer W feeds him his evening meal. Then, Sorty searches for somewhere to sleep. Sometimes he sleeps outside. Sometimes he chooses the corridor, a chair inside the SORT building or the visitors' couch in the reception area.
'He sleeps wherever he wants. He's not a messy dog, so we let him stay inside,' said W. 'He often searches for a cool room with air conditioning.'
Sorty has a routine. In the mornings, he falls into line escorting officers to the shooting range. At first, he ran behind their cars.
'He knew to sit at officers' feet and not move when they practise target shooting. The sound doesn't bother him,' said W.
Eventually, army and SORT officers loaded the dog into their vehicles along with their guns and ammunition. Police canine officers on the compound said Sorty's behaviour at the shooting range is remarkable.
'The noise doesn't bother him. He actually seems to like it.'
Sorty barks orders at the officers while they practise target shooting. At the end of the day, when officers drive off the compound, he runs behind their vehicles, escorting them to the sentry's booth. Then he turns and runs back insi
