Related Articles
Handler – Deputy Brett Hansen
Benton sheriff’s office bids fond farewell to police dog
The Benton County Sheriff’s Office is mourning the loss of one of their own. Deputy Brett Hansen’s former K9 partner Egon was euthanized earlier this week after battling fibrotic myopathy — a degenerative muscle disorder — and heart problems. “I didn’t realize how attached I was until I had to make that decision to put him down, end his suffering,” Hansen said Friday. The German shepherd joined the sheriff’s office in November 2013, learning the job with Hansen from Kennewick Police Department’s veteran police dog handler Officer Brad Kohn. Egon was trained as an apprehension dog, like Kohn’s dog Axel. They are used to help find and arrest suspects. Hansen said Egon, at 97 pounds, was the largest police dog in the region. He was especially good at searching buildings — though he had his momentary weaknesses. Hansen recalled with a laugh a time when deputies responded to a call about possible squatters in a house. Hansen let Egon out on a long lead to search as much of the building as he could before deputies went inside. Egon stopped partway through the house, but out of Hansen’s sight and without barking, which would have signaled finding someone. Hansen pulled Egon back to find the dog munching on a pizza someone had left behind. “He wasn’t a fan of human food, except pizza,” Hansen said. Egon had other likes and dislikes. He hated swimming. He liked kids and doing school presentations. And he loved going to work. Egon served until January 2016, when his fibrotic myopathy left his left rear leg lame. Hansen then bought Egon from the department and made him a pet. The dog, bought and imported from Germany, already had lived with Hansen and his family during his service. Hansen said that when he left the house or went out hunting without Egon, the dog would get up during the night and walk through the house. He’d nudge sleeping family members with his nose to make sure they were OK, then go back to sleep. Hansen said his children “cried their eyes out” for about two days, but they’re starting to bounce back. As for Hansen, he says he’d jump at the chance to be a K9 deputy again. “It’s a really neat position that you don’t understand until you do it,” Hansen said.
