mailed cards 2/22/03

Police dog loses his life to cancer
2003-02-11 - By Brittney Guest - Staff Writer

Del City police officer, Loyd Berger, laid his partner to rest Monday, Feb. 10, 2003. They worked together less than a year, but Berger considered Ringo a part of his family. Their relationship was short lived, because one week ago Ringo, Berger's K-9 partner, lost his life to cancer. After their first meeting with Ringo, a Belgian Malinois, Loyd and Lisa Berger began the adoption process and incorporated the dog into their lives. Before he became a loved house pet and backup officer to Berger, Ringo served 12 years in the U.S. Air Force. He uncovered cocaine, marijuana and other illegal drugs on the streets of Tinker Air Force Base and during deployments to California. He once detected 117 pounds of cocaine. His work earned Ringo the Air Force Commendation Medal for Meritorious Service. Because of his role in the Air Force and as a police dog, Ringo was buried with a ceremony that included a gun salute and a folded flag presented to Berger. Twenty police dogs, some of whom served in the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building recovery efforts, are buried at Precious Pets Cemetery in Spencer, co-owner Linda McCullough said. In addition to K-9 burials, the cemetery holds services for birds, fish, donkeys and other pets. "They are just so important not only in the community, but in helping the officers," McCullough said of police dogs. "It just validates that they were important to someone." Lisa Berger said her husband is taking the loss day by day. "He knew when it was time to go to work when I came out in uniform," Berger said of Ringo. "It's hard to go to work without him." While Ringo's muscular body could be intimidating, he always knew the difference between working and playing, Berger said. "He looked mean. He acted mean, but at heart he was a pup," he said. Ringo accompanied Berger on routine traffic stops and patrol work, and became a reliable partner. "He was there to watch my back," Berger said. Until recently, Air Force trained dogs like Ringo were put to sleep if they were in poor health. Now, the dogs can be adopted by police departments establishing K-9 units.

"Tinker"  is the Air Force Base near Oklahoma City that Ringo worked for nearly 12 years.  "Tinker Take Off" is the name of the newspaper for Tinker Air Force Base.

Tinker military dog laid to rest with honors
Jeanne Grimes - Staff Writer  (February 14, 2003) 
Tinker Senior Airman Jeff Wallace, with his working dog Marco, snaps a last salute for retired Tinker military working dog Ringo, during his funeral complete with honors by the Tinker Honor Guard. (Photo by Margo Wright) (photo?)
In solemn procession they came, two by two, pausing a moment before the small white casket topped with red and white flowers to offer salutes of hands and waving tails. It was a farewell befitting Ringo, a Belgian Malinois, that gave nearly 11 of his 13 years to the 72nd Security Forces Squadron at Tinker Air Force Base and 10 months to his “retirement” home with the family of Del City Patrolman Loyd Berger. Ringo retired from duties as a military working dog March 31, 2002, and on July 23 was one of two veteran canines to receive the Air Force Commendation Medal for Meritorious Service. He died Feb. 4 and the Tinker Honor Guard laid him to rest with military honors six days later at Precious Pets Cemetery in Spencer. “I was his handler a little over a year,” Staff Sgt. Joel Seal said, recalling Ringo as the best of the four military dogs he has handled in his Air Force career.
“Of all my dogs, Ringo was my favorite,” Seal said. “He was very loyal, always willing to please. Wind, snow, rain - he was very eager to go to work at all times. We work for a paycheck; he worked for his toy [a Kong].” Seal said Ringo, almost 13, was “getting to the point he was non deployable” when the Air Force retired him. Once, dogs like Ringo were euthanized when their military days came to an end. However, regulations now allow the Air Force to transfer ownership of these dogs to their handlers or, as in Ringo’s case, to a local police department. “Our K-9 program had gone by the wayside,” Berger said of the Del City Police Department. The golden coated Ringo changed that. Berger recalled how he learned from some Air Force acquaintances that Ringo was retiring. Del City police, at Berger’s urging, submitted a request for the working dog and Ringo left the only home he'd ever known — the military working dog kennels at Tinker — for the luxury of family life April 15, 2002. “He became real sociable,” Berger said, “[but] he could be as aggressive as you wanted him to, also.” In his twilight months, Ringo discovered the joys of having his own toys and bed, and such taste tempting delights as Popsicles and peanut butter treats. But, Berger said, he was also ready to go on patrol and perhaps sniff out some narcotics. Ringo was active and playful until a few days before his death. When the Bergers noticed he was ill, they took him to a veterinarian who diagnosed him with cancer. “He passed very quickly,” the officer said. Ringo left a legacy in both the Air Force and civilian worlds. As a military working dog, he is credited with locating more than 307 pounds of illegal narcotics and $37,000 belonging to narcotics traffickers. He also performed more than 90,000 random vehicle inspections and 43,000 building searches, and the civilian world? “Ringo got our K-9 program started again,” Berger said, adding the Del City Police Department has a new dog that is in the process of being certified in narcotics detection and patrol.