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In Loving Memory of
K9 SAMMY (SAMSON) & K9 MIDNIGHT
2011
 
Detective Donna Green
Atlantic City Police K9 Dept.
NJ

My name is Detective Donna Green from the Atlantic City Police Department.  I received information from my Sergeant to contact you regarding my K9’s.   I had 2 K9’s in my career as a K9 handler.  Both dogs were Narcotic Detection Dogs.  I started K9 in 1993 with my dog Samson.  Sammy as I called him was a mix of yellow lab & great dane.  Sammy served with the department from 1993 to 2003.  Sammy was put down in September 2004 for health reasons.  I fed him treats and stayed with him until his last breath. That was one of the hardest things I had to do.  That same year, 2003,  before Samson was put down I trained with a new K9, Midnight,  a black lab.  Sammy & Midnight were buddies.   They actually would train together, before Sammy was put down.   Midnight served with the department from 2003 to 2010, when he retired.  Midnight enjoyed retirement until August of 2011, when he also had to be put down for health reasons.  Both of my K9’s were obtained from an SPCA, and both were great dogs.
Thank you for what you are doing, honoring the service dogs.  Feel free to contact me if need be. 

Detective Donna M. Green
Atlantic City Police Department
Special Investigations Section
2711 Atlantic Avenue
Atlantic City, NJ 08401
609-347-5858
Dgreen@acpolice.org

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In Loving Memory of
K9 SCOUT
December 2011

Handler: Officer Brad Metcalf 

Indianola Police Department ( IOWA )

110 North 1st St.,
Indianola, IA 50125
Ph: (515) 961-9400 - FAX: (515) 961-9450

 

WEBSITE - http://www.indianolaiowa.gov/Departments/Police.aspx

 

Indianola police lose K-9 dog Scout

Scout, shown here with K-9 handler Brad Metcalf, recently had to be put down because of medical issues.
Scout had spent five years with the Indianola Police Department.

The Indianola Police Department lost a valuable team member last month. Scout, the department’s K-9 dog, had to be put down recently because of medical issues. “She developed seizures and didn’t respond to treatment,” said Officer Brad Metcalf, Scout’s handler. “It was hard to make that decision (to put her down). We had a very close bond.” Scout was involved in numerous drug cases during her time with the Indianola Police Department, Metcalf said. She also assisted other area agencies with drug-related cases and did demonstrations for local groups. Scout, a lab mix, was 7 years old. She had spent five years with the Indianola Police Department.

This is the third canine the department has had. Major – Scout’s predecessor – spent 13 years on the force. “The first one developed cancer and didn’t live very long,” Metcalf said. Metcalf, who has been with the Indianola Police Department for 10 years, said he helped Scout finish her training when she was younger. Scout’s primary duty within the department was drug enforcement, but she also had training, and some experience, in tracking criminals. “She had about a month of training when we received her,” Metcalf said. “I worked with her and she completed all of her training in about three months.” The police department presented Metcalf with a glass memorial over the Christmas holiday. The memorial has a picture of Scout and Metcalf, along with a short poem, titled “My Partner.” The department hasn’t decided if they will get another K-9 dog.  submitted by Jim Cortina, Dir. CPWDA

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In Loving Memory of
K9 SKYLER
September 9, 2011

Handler:Assistant Chief Gaddis
Normandy Park Police Department
801 S.W. 174th St.
Normandy Park WA  98166
206 248-7600  -  206 246-9732 fax
WEBSITE - http://www.normandyparkwa.gov/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7BB1D7B8B9-7229-4E72-9F3D-14E025E1C15E%7D 

Normandy Park police lose valuable member of the force
On Sept. 9, the Normandy Park Police Department had to say goodbye to a long time member. Skyler, our fifteen-year-old Australian Shepherd Narcotics K-9 had to be put to sleep. Skyler had suffered from Arthritis for many years and his health had seriously deteriorated over the last six months. He had seizures earlier this year and never fully recovered. Skyler retired from police work in December of 2007 as the better half of a Master Narcotics K9 team, and spent the remainder of his life with Assistant Chief Gaddis and his family.
Skyler was a true partner in every sense of the word and even better in most cases. Skyler never complained, never backed down and was always there when he was needed. This is true if you are speaking of his work as a police officer or that of a friend. In 1999, Skyler joined the police department as their very first K-9. Skyler was a rescue dog from STAR (South Texas Australian Rescue). He was saved by this group just hours from being put down, and was sent to the Washington State Department of Corrections K9 training facility on McNeil Island.
Even though he was very young at the time, he showed promise in the field of narcotics work and was given the opportunity to complete the course. Skyler and then Officer Gaddis completed the six-week training class with the highest percentage of "finds" and their impact on the community was immediate. The second week out of class Skyler located over $1 million worth of narcotics while working with the Federal Way Police Department. Skyler's reputation continued to grow and he was frequently relied upon by outside agencies to assist them in narcotics investigations.
Assistant Chief Gaddis would like to thank the 1998-1999 Normandy Park City Council members and all those that have followed, for allowing the program to continue. The Normandy Park Police Department would like to thank the VCA Five Corner's Animal Hospital for their outstanding service over the years and their incredible compassion when it was Skyler's time to depart this world. "As his handler for almost ten years and his friend almost thirteen I would like to thank Skyler for being with me through the good times and the bad," Gaddis said.
"I never remember a time that he wasn't ready and willing to do whatever I asked of him (as long as it wasn't to behave). I will miss the time that we spent together at work and the times he spent with me and my growing family. I can still picture him lying in my office on one of our night shifts, chasing rabbits in his sleep while I tried to get paperwork done."
submitted by Jim Cortina, Dir. CPWDA

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In Loving Memory of
K9 SARAH
July 25, 2011 (age 17)

Handler: Patrick Shaw
Vermont State Firefighters' Association
P.O. Box 321
Pittsford, VT 05763
802-483-2251

Just  visited your beautiful website honoring MOLLY - aka; SARA, along with the police working dogs. We had a dog that we rescued at  age 4. Sara was the  subject of what some called misuse  and others called abuse and was given up  by  her owners. Their 7 year old daughter said that her name stood for [Sorry Assed Raggedy Animal]. A beautiful German Shepherd that quickly became a loving creature once she settled into a full member of our family.

In Loving Memory of
K9 SABRE
April 21, 2011

Handler: Officer Kevin Welsh
Galloway Twp. Police Department
300 Jimmie Leeds Rd.
Galloway, NJ  08205
609 652.3700

 On the final evening of his valiant battle with cancer, K-9 Sabre was with his best friend.
He spent much of his life running up and down Dog Beach in Somers Point with his best friend Kevin Welsh, but on this occasion, it was enough for both of them to sit there under the moonlight in Welsh’s backyard in Galloway Township and enjoy what time they had left together.
“I knew it wasn’t going to be much longer after that,” Welsh, a Galloway Township K-9 officer, said.
The night was April 20 of this year.
By Anthony Bellano

MORE:
He spent much of his life running up and down Dog Beach in Somers Point with his best friend Kevin Welsh, but on this occasion, it was enough for both of them to sit there under the moonlight in Welsh’s backyard in Galloway Township and enjoy what time they had left together.  “I knew it wasn’t going to be much longer after that,” Welsh, a Galloway Township K-9 officer, said.  The night was April 20 of this year. The following day, Sabre was dead.
On Thursday night, his best friend and partner of six and a half years took his ashes to his favorite spot. Under an ominous sky, with friends looking on and dogs barking in the background, Welsh took his best friend’s remains and scattered them into the water. Sabre was free.         
“When I got Sabre, I needed a place to take him to run,” Welsh said of Dog Beach. “It was good exercise. I would take him out here for three hours, and I would throw stuff into the water and he would go chasing after it. It was non-stop. It was a good workout and it was fun." It was a place we would go and he just played. It was a more than fitting that this would be the place to spread his ashes.”
Dog Beach certainly earns the nickname. The beach is located just before the Ocean City causeway, and while there aren’t exactly guards standing by to make sure patrons are bringing a dog onto the beach with them, a person without a dog on this beach is hard to come by.  For six and a half years, Welsh brought Sabre to that spot to play and to commiserate with the other dogs. Sabre loved the other dogs, and the other dogs loved Sabre.  Then again, there weren’t too many people who didn’t love the police dog named after Sabre on the old “American Gladiators” TV show, which originally aired in the mid 1990's.
“Everyone knew he was caring and compassionate,” Welsh said. “He was one of the most popular dogs. You would ask the kids who their favorite dog was, and they would say Sabre. I was out there with him all the time, and they got to know him. I would take him to a classroom and they would ask questions about him all day. Sabre was no different than the other dogs, but everyone knew him.  “He was an outstanding animal and a great partner.”
Sabre was well-known by the children of Galloway Township, as he participated in a number of K-9 demonstrations throughout the town.   The children of Pomona Elementary School knew "Sabre" particularly well, as Welsh was the C.O.P.S. 5 officer for the school. C.O.P.S. 5 is Galloway’s drug- awareness program.
Welsh said he knew from the time he was 12 years old he wanted to be a K-9 officer.
“A family friend was a K-9 officer,” Welsh said. “He was actually a captain in Galloway. I saw him and he would tell stories and I thought it was just an awesome job.” Welsh first became a police officer in Beach Haven in 2000, and he transferred to his hometown police department in Galloway two years later. However, it wasn’t until 2005, a full five years after becoming a cop for the first time, that Welsh had the opportunity to become a K-9 officer, and he has been ever since.
Welsh’s new partner is named Titan, also after an athlete on American Gladiators. Sabre’ name was originally to be Titan, but after Welsh knew his partner for one day, he changed it to Sabre because it just seemed like that’s what his name should be.  Sabre must’ve felt that way, too.
For over half a decade, the faithful Sabre was always by his companion’s side, and he never let him down. He had a long career of narcotics detection, making his final mission with the police department seem a little more fitting.
“It was in January, and a suspicious package was coming through the area,” Welsh said. “Sabre searched a bunch of packages, and he found crystal methamphetamine.”
Sabre became sick shortly thereafter. He had to be neutered, and he didn’t work while recuperating from the surgery. While recovering, it was discovered that he had cancer.
“This was one of the hardest things I’ve had to go through,” Welsh said. “I don’t think I had the bond with my grandparents that I had with Sabre.”
Training with Titan has helped Welsh cope with the loss of Sabre, but Welsh noted Titan has “big paws to fill.”
A star in the Ursa Major constellation has been named after Sabre, and two poems were read in his memory at Thursday night’s memorial.
A plaque was also presented to Welsh, and John Mistler was on hand to play the bagpipes while Welsh scattered Sabre’s ashes into the water off Dog Beach.
This image provided by the Galloway Township Police Department shows the police departments police dog Sabre in an undated photo. Sabre's death of Thursday April 21, 2011 came five days after the Galloway Township Police Department held a retirement ceremony for the German shepherd. Officers and the public in southern New Jersey are mourning a police dog that battled cancer. He was 7-and-a-half. (AP Photo/Galloway Police Department)
submitted by Jim Cortina, Dir. CPWDA & Bobby Earl, retired K9 handler MASS.
SERVICE:

In Loving Memory of
K9 SIMBA
May 26, 2011
   
Handler: Sgt. Keith Diehl
Toms River Police Department
255 Oak Avenue
Toms River, NJ 08753 
Ph: 732.349.0150

Toms River Police Mourn Loss of K-9 Officer
Simba joined force in 2002

Tell Your Neighbors About Patch A beloved officer of the Toms River Police Department died yesterday morning.
K-9 Simba, a German shepherd police dog who joined the Toms River police in 2002, was put down after his advanced degenerative arthritis in several discs in his back left him with no movement in his back legs.
His partner, Toms River Police Sgt. Keith Diehl, said Simba was one of four canine officers in the department and was 10 ½ years old. He described Simba as a best friend, a loved and beloved companion to him as an officer and to his family.
“He was more than a member of the police force, he lived with me and was a loyal friend to my family,” Diehl said. “He was a member of my family, and the police family.”
The K-9 on Tuesday started to exhibit signs that advanced arthritis in his back made movement impossible, Diehl said.
“It was rough,” Diehl said. “He lost all his feeling to his legs.”
Simba’s badge number is 9010. As a trained police dog, Simba aided in both patrol work and narcotics work.
“About 70 percent of the crime fighting is narcotics,” Diehl said. “Police dogs are integral, their sense of smell is something like several hundred times heightened compared to a human.”
He said that at the regular training he and Simba underwent, it was once described that while you’d walk into a house and know grandma was making chicken soup, a German shepherd could separate all the distinct ingredients in the soup by smell.
“It’s amazing what these dogs can do,” Diehl said.
In addition to a 10-hour shift at work together, Simba and Diehl forged a bond that comes with the canine also living with the working officer.
“Literally we spend as much time as exists with them,” he said. “We bring them to work with us, we are at home together.”
He described Simba as “the most reliable officer you could ever work with.”
“The loyalty, love and companionship you are shown — they gave back to you so much than you could ever give,” Diehl said.
Toms River Police Chief Michael Mastronardy and Diehl both agreed this was a tremendous loss to the department.
“We lost an officer,” Mastronardy said. “It is sad, it is devastating. Our K-9 officers do so much.”
Diehl said Simba aided “hundreds and hundreds of cases. There are too many to go into specifics about one case. He helped the Ocean County Narcotics Task Force, helped other towns who didn’t have K-9 officers, helped scent out suspects.
He did it all.”
In addition, Simba was faced with daily training. For example, Simba would be given an item, and then he’d have to track down the staffer it belonged to on the police compound on Oak Avenue.
Diehl said Simba was often happiest showing off for demonstrations at elementary schools.
“He just loved to show what he could do. He had a big smile on his face,” Diehl said. “He was showing off. All dogs love to play. He loved it and the students just loved it.”
The sergeant said his own four children will also deeply miss playing with Simba.
“Every morning Simba would eagerly wait for them to get down with their cereal. They’d put the bowls down and he’d lap up all the extra milk,” Diehl said. It was a morning routine they’ll miss incredibly, he said. “He couldn’t wait for them to get done with the cereal so he could finish the milk.”
Mastronardy and Diehl praised the work of Simba, who was also a brother to two other local police dogs: the recently retired Clancy and Brick Township’s K-9 Codey.
“They were all from the same litter,” Diehl said. “Simba had a full life, a great life, and was an asset to fighting crime.”
Simba had a joy for the work of being a police dog. "When he'd hear the jingle of keys or see me putting on the uniform, he'd start to get excited and run in circles," Diehl said.
Mastronardy said that at one point there were seven canines in Toms River Police, but now there are three.
“We are also short officers due to a wave of retirements,” he said. “What we’re looking at is adding K-9s through the help of fundraising.” The police chief said Community Medical Center raised enough money for adding another K-9 to the force.
The police department changed its Oak Avenue message board to say goodbye to its longtime officer: “Thanks for your years of service. Rest in Peace."  By Catherine Galioto
submitted by Jim Cortina, CPWDA Dir.

In Loving Memory of
K9 SCOOBY

April 30, 2011

End comes for NYPD bloodhound Scooby, who helped catch cop killer
BY John Lauinger
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Monday, May 2nd 2011, 4:00 AM

Scooby, an NYPD bloodhound whose powerful nose played a key role in an interstate manhunt for a cop killer, has died. He was 10 - that's 70 in people years. Scooby passed away in his sleep about 9 a.m. Saturday, police said. He had suffered from an undisclosed illness.  The North Carolina-bred bloodhound died slightly less than four years after what was perhaps his finest hour.  It was July 2007, and the NYPD was on the hunt for two violent thugs who had skipped town after shooting two cops. The NYPD officers had pulled them over in Crown Heights, Brooklyn for driving a stolen BMW.
Officer Russel Timoshenko, 23, was shot in the face, and died a few days later. His partner, Officer Herman Yan, was wounded but survived.  The two men involved in the fatal traffic stop, Dexter Bostic and Robert Ellis, both 34 at the time, managed to get a pal to drive them out of the city - but eventually got ditched near a highway in eastern Pennsylvania. Tired, hungry and nearly out of options, the two hapless outlaws were spotted at a rest area before setting off into dense woods near the highway. It was an ideal assignment for Scooby, who was born to hunt and bred to track criminals. Bloodhounds like Scooby zero in on a perp's sloughed-off skin cells. The droopy folds on their faces suck them up like a vacuum.  Joined by six other police dogs and backed by as many as 300 cops, Bostic and Ellis never stood much of a chance. Bostic, a heavy-set man, didn't get far after taking off on foot. But Ellis was more spry, and darted off into a heavily wooded ravine.  Scooby was on the scent, but then night fell. When the sun came up, Scooby was back on the trail.
BY John Lauinger
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Monday, May 2nd 2011, 4:00 AM
submitted by Jim Cortina, Dir. CPWDA

In Loving Memory of
K9 SABRE
April 21, 2011
 
Handler: Officer Kevin Welsh
Galloway Township Police Department
300 Jim Leeds Rd.
Galloway, NJ  08205
ph: 609 652 3700

In Loving Memory of
K9 SPIKE
April 7, 2011
 
Handler:  Officer Brian Andreas
Anderson County Sheriff's Office
305 Camson Rd.
Anderson, SC  29625
ph: 864 260.4400

Spike was a German Shepherd / Belgian Malinois mix imported to the US from Belgium.  He was trained in patrol and narcotics work.  Spike was trained to aggressively indicate on the odor of illegal drugs.  Patrol work included tracking for lost people and criminals, building searches, area searches, obedience, handler protection, and to apprehend fleeing suspects.  K-9 Spike started working with his handler in April of 2001 with Anderson County.  He retired in Charleston, SC with Brian Andreas and his family.  K9 Spike was laid to rest on April 7, 2011.  He worked for Anderson County in SC and was retired out about 5 yrs ago and lived with his handler Brian Andreas.
This has been a very sad time for us, Brian lost his best friend and partner.
submitted by Megan Andreas   meg.andreas@gmail.com

The Canine Unit is responsible for providing trained police dogs to assist in the location of illegal narcotics, apprehend fleeing felons, and locate lost or missing persons. The Canine Unit is highly mobile and is often used to assist other units involved in drug interdiction, especially along the Interstate 85 corridor.

In Loving Memory of
K9 SUNNY
March 7, 2011

In Loving Memory of
K9 SARGE
January 7, 2011

(OVER 1000 LBS.)

Handler: Deputy Cory Doudican
Lyon County Sheriff's Office
425 Mechanic St. Emporia, KS
66801-3997
620.342.5545
website: http://www.lyoncosheriff.org