Died 4\/24\/20
\nHandler – Officer James Stoffel<\/p>\n
Woodbury police canine dies after illness<\/p>\n
A K-9 officer-in-training has died after an illness, Woodbury Public Safety said Friday afternoon. Police \u201ccanine cadet\u201d Buster suffered from an acute case of gastric dilatation and volvulus, also called bloat, and died Friday, according to a statement from Woodbury Police Sgt. John Altman. Buster was rushed to the University of Minnesota and \u201creceived wonderful care,\u201d Altman said.Born in June 2018, Buster and his littermate, Cirrus, were purchased by the Woodbury Police K9 Fund at 10 weeks old. He was named for the Dairy Queen \u201cBuster Bar\u201d after a large donation from the chain\u2019s Woodbury location, the release said. He had begun formal schooling this year with his handler, Officer James Stoffel. Many members of the Woodbury police department had a hand in raising and training Buster, as well as his brother, until they were old enough to start formal police K9 school. \u201cThere is an incredible bond between dog and handler; with Buster it was even more so since several officers helped raise him from a young age, including Officer Stoffel who was selected to be Buster\u2019s handler,\u201d the release said. \u201cOnce canine school began, Buster showed what a great working dog he was becoming through the dedication and hard work of Officer Stoffel.\u201d The public safety department thanked the Woodbury Police K9 Fund, adding that the organization volunteered to cover Buster\u2019s medical costs. The fund was created in 2015 by Donna Smith-Stafford to honor her husband, Bruce Stafford, and has raised money to help the city pay for dogs, training and equipment. Bruce Stafford, who died suddenly in 2014, was a Woodbury firefighter for 22 years and served as chief. \u201cOur canine teams will continue to train hard and serve the City of Woodbury because of the strong foundation of the program, the commitment from our handlers, the support from city leaders and staff, and the backing of the community through the Woodbury Police K9 Fund,\u201d the release said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Died 4\/24\/20 Handler – Officer James Stoffel Woodbury police canine dies after illness A K-9 officer-in-training has died after an illness, Woodbury Public Safety said Friday afternoon. Police \u201ccanine cadet\u201d Buster suffered from an acute case of gastric dilatation and volvulus, also called bloat, and died Friday, according to a statement from Woodbury Police Sgt. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8394,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[66],"class_list":["post-8392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-k9memorial","tag-mn"],"yoast_head":"\n