Handler – Deputy Brett Hansen<\/p>\n
Benton sheriff\u2019s office bids fond farewell to police dog<\/p>\n
The Benton County Sheriff\u2019s Office is mourning the loss of one of their own. Deputy Brett Hansen\u2019s former K9 partner Egon was euthanized earlier this week after battling fibrotic myopathy \u2014 a degenerative muscle disorder \u2014 and heart problems. \u201cI didn\u2019t realize how attached I was until I had to make that decision to put him down, end his suffering,\u201d Hansen said Friday. The German shepherd joined the sheriff\u2019s office in November 2013, learning the job with Hansen from Kennewick Police Department\u2019s veteran police dog handler Officer Brad Kohn. Egon was trained as an apprehension dog, like Kohn\u2019s 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 \u2014 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\u2019s 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. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t a fan of human food, except pizza,\u201d 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\u2019d nudge sleeping family members with his nose to make sure they were OK, then go back to sleep. Hansen said his children \u201ccried their eyes out\u201d for about two days, but they\u2019re starting to bounce back. As for Hansen, he says he\u2019d jump at the chance to be a K9 deputy again. \u201cIt\u2019s a really neat position that you don\u2019t understand until you do it,\u201d Hansen said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Handler – Deputy Brett Hansen Benton sheriff\u2019s office bids fond farewell to police dog The Benton County Sheriff\u2019s Office is mourning the loss of one of their own. Deputy Brett Hansen\u2019s former K9 partner Egon was euthanized earlier this week after battling fibrotic myopathy \u2014 a degenerative muscle disorder \u2014 and heart problems. \u201cI didn\u2019t …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3888,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[52],"class_list":["post-3886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-k9memorial","tag-wa"],"yoast_head":"\n