Died – 3\/6\/21
\n1st Handler – Officer Ron Knox
\n2nd Handler – Chief Justin Craig<\/p>\n
Greenville Police Department to honor service of beloved police dog<\/p>\n
The Greenville Police Department is mourning the loss of a K-9 officer known for his hard work in the community and affectionate personality. K-9 Officer Rony, a 9-year-old German Shepherd, died Saturday, and the police department is planning to honor his service with a procession and final call service on Sunday, March 14. Greenville Police Chief Justin Craig, who has been Rony\u2019s handler since October 2019, said the dog was a \u201cpillar\u201d of the department\u2019s K-9 program, which launched when Rony came to the Greenville Police Department in 2019. \u201cHis passing has rocked this whole department,\u201d Craig said.Rony served the community for eight years, and he started his career in 2014 with the Clark County Sheriff\u2019s Department. During that time, he served with Clark County Metro SWAT, and he was the first K-9 officer for the Southeast Regional SWAT team. Greenville Police Officer Ron Knox was Rony\u2019s owner and original handler for the Clark County Sheriff\u2019s Department, and they worked together until 2018. Knox has been working with Greenville Police Department since early 2019. Knox and his wife drove up to Pennsylvania in 2014 to get Rony, who then went through training to become certified in narcotics and SWAT. Rony was the best dog Knox ever trained, he said, and although he was a police dog instead of a family dog, he was also beloved by family members and others in the community. He and Rony often went horseback riding together, and the K-9 was popular with kids when he visited local schools. In 2015, Rony received national attention when he comforted a terminally ill child by laying in the hospital bed with the child, Knox said. \u201cHe was a gentle dog \u2014 he loved kids, but he also loved his job,\u201d he said. \u201cHe knew what to do and would do it.\u201d Rony was always excited to get to work, Craig said. \u201cI\u2019ve never personally seen a dog with that drive and just the will to want to work,\u201d Craig said. \u201cWhen we would load up and get ready to go on patrol, he\u2019d literally run up to the police car and stand by the door waiting \u2014 you\u2019d see him pacing, looking at you. He was like, \u2018let me in.\u2019\u201d Craig describes Rony as \u201ccaring, loving\u201d dog. \u201cYou would see him jump half up in someone\u2019s lap licking their face \u2014 he just loved showing affection,\u201d he said. \u201cHe was a very affectionate dog who loved being petted.\u201d He \u201ccan\u2019t even put into words\u201d how much it means to honor Rony with Saturday\u2019s procession and final call, he said. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t just the police dog \u2014 he was part of all our families,\u201d Craig said. \u201cHe will be deeply missed.\u201d Greenville Police Officer Levi Berry was involved with the creation of the K-9 division at the Greenville Police Department. The community loved Rony for his lovable nature, he said. \u201cFor a dog that\u2019s capable of clearing a house to also be capable of rolling over to let a little kid rub his belly is a really special thing that you don\u2019t always see very often,\u2019 he said. Cliff Lindsey, master trainer with the International Police Work Dog Association, was involved with the training of Rony, who was known \u201call over Southern Indiana,\u201d he said.\u201cHe was a SWAT dog, a police dog and a family dog,\u201d he said. \u201cHe was a really good dog, and I can\u2019t say enough about him.\u201dMore Information. The police escort and final call for K-9 Rony is taking place Sunday, March 14. The escort will be coming from Louisville into Indiana via the East End Bridge on I-265 before continuing westbound on I-265. Participating units are asked to begin staging around 1 p.m., and K-9 Rony will enter Indiana around 2 p.m. Staging should be complete at 1:45 p.m. The procession will then proceed to Highland Hills Middle School at 3429 Edwardsville-Galena Road in Georgetown for a short service and final call. After the final call at approximately 3:30 p.m., the procession will leave Highland Hills and ride back to Greenville. The route will go from Edwardsville-Galena to Old Vincennes, then to U.S. 150 in Greenville. The procession will be complete at U.S. 150 at Georgetown-Galena Road. The public is invited to attend the service at Highland Hill and\/or observe the procession from the middle school to Greenville. K-9 Rony died after a spontaneous medical emergency, and Knox, Craig and Berry were with him in the veterinary hospital as he passed. Knox said he appreciates the Greenville police officers organizing the procession and final call for Rony, and he predicts that many people will show up to honor the beloved K-9. \u201cHe was an officer, so it\u2019s kind of hard to ignore that fact,\u201d Knox said. \u201cA lot of people say, \u2018why don\u2019t you just bury the dog and get it over with,\u2019 but he was an officer, and it\u2019s an honorable thing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Died – 3\/6\/21 1st Handler – Officer Ron Knox 2nd Handler – Chief Justin Craig Greenville Police Department to honor service of beloved police dog The Greenville Police Department is mourning the loss of a K-9 officer known for his hard work in the community and affectionate personality. K-9 Officer Rony, a 9-year-old German Shepherd, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10307,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-10305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-k9memorial","tag-in"],"yoast_head":"\n