Patrolman William R. H. Fortye

That's Bill Fortye with the FIRST City of Las Vegas Police Department (Later Metro) Police Dog, Burgie. Burgie was originally my brother-in-law's (Lew Thomas') dog and he was trained at the old Prison Farm up by Sunrise (Frenchman's) Mountain. When Lew went to California as a State Parole Officer, Burgie went to Bill. Bill Fortye was killed on Highland Drive (Now MLK) it the late 60's and the killer was caught because Burgie had bitten off three of his fingers (NOT just his thumb!). They were recovered from Burgie's tummy and matched with the killer who had gone for help with his hand to what is now University Medical Center Hospital. Burgie was a powerful and beautiful silver/black Shepard and I used to get to walk him at night along Jones and Alta. When not "on duty" while Lew had Burgie, he was kept at home rather than a kennel. I was about 14-15 at the time. When I walked Burgie at night I was always a little cautious since I had seen him in training when the individuals retained at the Prison Farm wore the attack suit for training. Burgie was a very powerful dog and without exception took the attack suit wearing prisoners (who volunteered!) to the ground easily and then Lew called him off. If my sister still has photos of Burgie and Lew and I'll see if she can find them so I can post them. By the way, the second police dog here was a Belgian Malinois named "Rocky" and he was smaller than Burgie but trained with Burgie. I don't remember the name of the other officer who had Rocky.

Richard C Vaughan
Lived with Burgie a few years

November 12, 2022