Died – 3\/30\/16
\nHandler – Officer Nathan Emmons<\/p>\n
Death of police dog \u2018Blitz\u2019 an emotional loss<\/p>\n
Early this year, Barron police employed the use of Blitz, the department\u2019s K9 patrol officer, during a traffic stop. His handler, Officer Nathan Emmons, remembered that Blitz \u2013 a trained drug-sniffing dog — was very active around a child\u2019s car seat in the vehicle. At first, it didn\u2019t seem possible that there might be contraband in or around the seat.
\n\u201cWe found some small plastic spoons with what looked like dried candy sprinkles,\u201d Emmons said. Later, the \u201ccandy\u201d tested positive for the addictive drug ethamphetamine.
\n\u201cIt was being used to stir hot coffee. That\u2019s how (the suspects) were using (the drug),\u201d he said. Unfortunately, the police department will be without a K9 officer \u2013 at least for the immediate future. Blitz died following cancer surgery on March 29, 2016, Emmons and Police Chief Byron Miller said on Friday, April 1. Emmons said that on March 19, the German Shepherd dog passed a drug detection recertification course with flying colors. Three days later, Emmons discovered a large growth on Blitz\u2019s right shoulder, which wasn\u2019t there the day before. After a biopsy at Chetek Animal Hospital, Blitz was diagnosed with Stage 2 cancer. There was another series of x-rays on March 28, which showed that there wasn\u2019t any cancer elsewhere in his body. It was decided to perform surgery and remove the tumor, to save his life and, hopefully, to return him to service. The first report was cautious but optimistic. Unfortunately, Blitz died of complications the night after the surgery. Emmons said that he wanted to pass on special thanks to Dr. Kamran Khan and Heather Mann, technician, \u201cfor their heroic efforts to save Blitz\u2019 life.\u201d A memorial service has been set for 4 p.m. this Friday, April 8, 2016, at Barron Area Community Center, to remember Blitz and the contributions he made while on active duty. Statements will be made by Mayor David Vruwink, Miller, and Officer Ray Parr, who assisted with a lot of the dog\u2019s training. Local musician Chris Kroeze will sing. The loss of Blitz was a hard blow to the department and, especially, Emmons, who had been the dog\u2019s handler for five years. \u201cOn (March 31), it was completely silent in my squad car, and it was the most deafening sound I\u2019ve ever heard,\u201d he said, with tears in his eyes. Miller said that when he was in the Marines, there was a small K9 unit at Camp Pendleton, Calif., and that experience gave him the incentive to try a K9 program after he got into his intended career in police work. When the time came, in 2010, \u201cwe needed someone willing to do the work with the dog, and to educate our City Council about it.\u201d Miller said. \u201cWe put Nathan in two roles, and he succeeded in both.\u201d Imported from a breeder in the Czech Republic, Blitz started active duty with the St. Paul, Minn., Police Department. But there were some performance issues that concerned the St. Paul department, and Blitz was eventually withdrawn from the force. \u201cThey never did explain what (the concerns) were,\u201d Emmons said. The dog did have a stubborn streak, but weeks of intensive training helped to bond the dog and his handler, he said. Eventually, Blitz and Emmons became an efficient team, participating in dozens of drug investigations over the past five years. The dog was also a big help in arrests, he said.
\n\u201cI once went to arrest a guy who was wanted on a warrant from California. We had all kinds of warnings about (the suspect\u2019s violent behavior), but when he knew a dog was there he gave up because he\u2019d had bad experiences with dogs.\u201d Blitz might have been just as valuable to the department\u2019s public relations effort as he was to solving crime. When he wasn\u2019t working, Blitz was a friendly dog, eager to wag his tail and be petted, Emmons said. \u201cWe did more than 60 demonstrations for the department,\u201d he said. \u201cI can\u2019t even count the number of meet-and-greets we had, where people would ask to see him. He was always willing to greet the public. \u201cWhat I liked was that he\u2019d do the job at the flip of a switch,\u201d Emmons said. \u201cBut when it was time to interact with people, he\u2019d turn it off. He\u2019d let kids do just about anything to him.\u201d Miller and Emmons said that they would eventually like to renew the K9 program with another dog. \u201cBut first, I have to process this (loss),\u201d Emmons said. \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t be good if we got another dog and he picked up on those emotions.\u201d It cost about $25,000 to start the program with Blitz, he said. \u201cBut now that I have experience, we would want a fully trained dog, so the training shrinks from more than month to two or three weeks.\u201d A ballpark figure for a new program is about $10,000, Emmons said. The department already has fundraisers scheduled, including an April 23 brat sale at Gordy\u2019s Market, a raffle for a .22 Henry rifle, and the department\u2019s annual golf outing on June 27. \u201cOne individual has already donated $500 anonymously,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Died – 3\/30\/16 Handler – Officer Nathan Emmons Death of police dog \u2018Blitz\u2019 an emotional loss Early this year, Barron police employed the use of Blitz, the department\u2019s K9 patrol officer, during a traffic stop. His handler, Officer Nathan Emmons, remembered that Blitz \u2013 a trained drug-sniffing dog — was very active around a child\u2019s …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1340,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[23],"class_list":["post-1338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-k9memorial","tag-wi"],"yoast_head":"\n