Died 7\/7\/18
\nHandler – Officer Kevin Merkel<\/p>\n
Members of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police are mourning a heartbreaking loss. The newest member of the K-9 Unit unexpectedly passed away Saturday. K-9 Loki suddenly came down with aspiration pneumonia. K-9 Loki put a smile on the face of everybody he met and was instantly beloved in the city of Pittsburgh. The sweet, spunky bloodhound puppy celebrated his 10-week birthday on Friday and woke up Saturday seeming happy as could be. \u201cI got a call from my K-9 trainer Bill Watts. He was playing with Loki this morning and Loki was doing fine and all of a sudden he just collapsed,\u201d said Sgt. Sean Duffy, the K-9 Unit Supervisor for the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police. They rushed K-9 Loki to an emergency veterinary hospital where he was diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia. They gave him oxygen, antibiotics and sedated him. \u201cThey were going to watch him for two days. And within an hour, he declined rapidly,\u201d said Sgt. Duffy. At 2:45 p.m., Loki passed away. \u201cIt is a tragedy. We worked a long time to get Loki here. And we finally got him here and finally started his training and this happens,\u201d said Sgt. Duffy. Loki was cremated. K-9 Officer Kevin Merkel will be keeping his ashes because he would have been Loki\u2019s handler. K-9 Loki\u2019s police family had a memorial service for him. Sgt. Duffy read Lord Byron\u2019s poem Epitaph to a Dog. \u201cHe talks about his dog who possessed beauty without vanity, strength without insolence, courage without ferocity,\u201d said Sgt. Duffy, quoting lines from the poem. Sgt. Duffy wants the K-9 Unit\u2019s new motto to be \u201ccourage without ferocity.\u201d \u201cBecause that just nails it on the head what the K-9s are all about,\u201d said Sgt. Duffy. Even though K-9 Loki never got a chance to grow into his important role, his passing leaves a huge void in the hearts of the officers who loved him. \u201cHe was adorable. We\u2019re going to miss him so much,\u201d said Sgt. Duffy. In the future, Sgt. Duffy told KDKA he is confident the department will get another bloodhound to do the important job Loki would have done in finding people who have gone missing. Right now, they are mourning Loki\u2019s passing and asking for prayers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Died 7\/7\/18 Handler – Officer Kevin Merkel Members of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police are mourning a heartbreaking loss. The newest member of the K-9 Unit unexpectedly passed away Saturday. K-9 Loki suddenly came down with aspiration pneumonia. K-9 Loki put a smile on the face of everybody he met and was instantly beloved in …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5378,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[14],"class_list":["post-5375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-k9memorial","tag-pa"],"yoast_head":"\n