Memorials to Fallen K-9s
2000
page7
F.A.S.T.
Co. donates cards to all partners
of all
working dogs/horses sent by priority mail
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Send
condolences to officers
In
Loving Memory of
K-9
"NERO"
September 19, 2000
Partner:
Officer Phillip Aufiero
New
Castle County, DE
3601
N. Dupont Hwy,
New
Castle 19720
Also
has a wonderful Mounted Police Dept.
PHOTOS
and info on Nero's Service
Notified
that Officer Aufiero received the cards and truly
appreciated
them. Thank you, Dawn.
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Nero,
a veteran New Castle County police dog praised for his many acts of valor,
died Tuesday night after a brief illness. "I am profoundly saddened by
the loss of Nero," county police chief Col. Jack Cunningham said Wednesday.
"He was much more than just a police K-9. He was a loyal friend and employee."
The end came peacefully for Nero about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. "I let him out,
and he came back in and laid down," his partner Officer Phillip Aufiero
said. "I laid down next to him and he put his head on my lap and just closed
his eyes."He's irreplaceable," he said, his voice filled with emotion.
In August 1992, Nero saved Aufiero's life when a robbery suspect pulled
out a pistol and tried to shoot the officer."Nero hit him and knocked the
gun out of his hand," Aufiero said. During his 10-year career, "Nero the
Hero" was responsible for seizing more than $1 million in drugs, cash and
property, police spokesman Patrolman Trinidad Navarro said. As a result,
he was the recipient of countless commendations for merit and valor, Navarro
said. Aufiero and the Budapest-born canine were partners for a decade.
Aufiero recalled picking him up in Raleigh, N.C., when Nero was only 18
months old. "He only understood Hungarian and I had to learn Hungarian
to speak command," Aufiero said. In addition to catching criminals, Nero
was credited with finding several lost children and missing Alzheimer's
patients. He was always a big hit at community functions, and with
the schoolchildren he visited in Middletown during the past five years,
Aufiero said. "He was an old guy but he loved to work," Aufiero said. "When
he'd see me go out ... he'd always want to go." The K-9 veteran was forced
to retire from the force late last month after undergoing emergency surgery.
After the operation, the dog's health declined and Aufiero brought him
home with him. "About the only thing he didn't like was the vet," he said.
"He was happy with me, and I was happy with him and only wanted him to
come home."
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Loss
of 2 K-9s
In Loving
Memory of
K-9
AJAX
Partner:
Officer Rick Bortnowsky
&
K-9
SZULTAN
Partner: Lt.
Oscar Lopez
September, 2000
Newburgh,
NY Police Dept.
Police
dogs remembered as loyal,fallen comrades
NEWBURGH:At a service for two police dogs who died,
K-9
cops spoke of the bond between officers and their dogs..
By Blair
Craddock The Times Herald-Record
At a
brief memorial service for two City of Newburgh police dogs who died this
week, bagpipes skirled in a sunny glade and uniformed police officers fought
back tears. Officer Rich Bortnowsky, whose 3-year-old
German shepherd, (continue -->)
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Heard
from your department and they are checking on receival of cards.
Sure
hope they didn't get lost so Newburgh knows that others care
and
feel their hurt! Never heard any more on these 2 K-9s from
anyone.
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Ajax,
was hit by a car Thursday, accepted a plaque from the U.S. Police K-9 Association
in memory of the dog. So did Lt. Oscar Lopez, whose 9-year-old shepherd,
Szultan, was euthanized this week after being diagnosed with cancer.
One officer, who read a poem honoring the deceased police dogs, broke down
unabashedly in tears. Lopez, who heads the department's K-9 division, said,
"Some people might say, 'All this for a dog?' But it's hard for me
to understand that." Unsentimental reasons motivate the police
force to have dogs, said Lopez. But you can't stay unsentimental and use
a dog effectively. Lopez said the dogs, which are specially
bred German shepherds imported from Europe, save taxpayers' money in police
overtime. "If you hid in the woods, it might take 20 police officers hours
to find you. But any one of these dogs could find you in seconds," he said.
The dogs can save an officer's life or a suspect's, said Officer Darren
Terry, who is in the K-9 division. When a suspect once pulled a gun on
him, he would have had to shoot the man if his dog hadn't leaped and knocked
the gun from the suspect's hand, Terry recalled. But unlike a machine,
the dogs won't work just for fuel. And unlike a human officer, they work
neither for money nor for any abstract principle. "Everything they do for
us is out of love," said Terry. "They do it because they're going to get
praise from Daddy." "For us to ask what we ask of them, we have to
show them we love them," said Officer Rich Carrion. So when an officer
joins the K-9 Division, he takes his dog in as a family member. "I don't
get my food before he does," said Carrion, speaking of his dog. "If we've
been in the car all day, the first thing we do when we get home is to go
run and play." "He was my child," said Bortnowsky, speaking of Ajax.
"He was a good dog, a loyal dog," Lopez said of Szultan, who once was pistol-whipped
in the head by a suspect. Szultan didn't budge and went right on gripping
the suspect's leg in his teeth. "I would go through any door or any situation
with him (Szultan) without hesitation," Lopez said. Lopez said the
department plans to replenish the K-9 force with two more dogs.
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In Loving
Memory of
"ADAME"
LODD
October 3, 2000
Massachusetts
State Police Mounted Unit
a Selle Francais horse,
age 27 years,
nickname "Frenchy"
MA Veteran
state police horse
dies after working
the Gore - Bush debate.
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He
marched in President Clinton's inaugural parade in Washington, D.C., three
years ago and most recently helped in the search for missing Warren lifeguard
Molly Bish. Adame, a 27-year-old state police horse, died shortly after
he handled crowds outside the presidential debate Tuesday. (Staff photo
by Matthew West) The trusted state police worker spent several July 4 holidays
manning the crowd on Martha's Vineyard and didn't bat an eye one time at
a Lynn rally when a child's balloon bounced off his large head. But after
a 16-year career, the 27-year-old horse named Adame died yesterday from
a heart attack shortly after controlling the crowds outside the presidential
debate at University of Massachusetts at Boston.
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cards
mailed / no reply
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``It
was like losing one of our own. He was one of the bravest horses we had,''
said state police Sgt. James Condon, who heads the state police Mounted
Unit headquarters in Acton. `We feel like he died in the line of duty.''
Adame, a Selle Francais horse nicknamed ``Frenchy,'' was one of a dozen
state police horses who arrived in Boston Tuesday afternoon to help man
the expected crowd of protesters - which grew to about 4,000 people. During
his shift, state police troopers said Adame showed no signs of discomfort.
``Nothing ever rattled him,'' said state police Trooper Richard Crosby.
``He was a solid, solid horse.'' Shortly after midnight, Adame and his
partner for the night, state police trooper Joseph DeYoung, headed back
with the others to the main staging area, the last stop before the trip
home. Adame collapsed at about 12:30 a.m. while walking on an access road
behind the JFK Library. ``His front legs went and then he seemed to sit
down,'' said Crosby, who jumped off his own horse to help the fallen team.
DeYoung's leg was pinned under the horse for a short time but he was not
injured. Emergency medical technicians could not revive the horse at the
scene. Adame was buried yesterday at Blue Hills in Canton. State
police troopers who work out of the Mounted Unit headquarters in Acton
were visibly upset yesterday at the loss of their loyal member, who they
called an A-team horse. Adame had worked with the Metropolitan District
Commission for eight years before the MDC merged with the state police
Mounted Unit in 1992. Like many of his four-legged colleagues, Adame
was donated to the state. His caretakers plan to have a headstone made
in his honor, which they will set in a nearby field in Acton. Crosby, a
state trooper for 19 years, said Adame had a calming effect on the other
horses. ``He was like a parent or older brother to them,'' Crosby
said. Condon said state troopers in the unit take turns riding the
different horses. ``Everyone here is devastated,'' he said.
Although Condon called Tuesday's crowd nasty, he said neither the conditions
nor exhaustion was linked to the horse's death. He said Adame was
in good health and was used to that type of work. State police horses patrol
state parks and beaches, help in searches for missing people and help control
crowds.
by Jessica
Heslam -Thursday, October 5, 2000
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In
Loving Memory of
K-9
RUDO
October
6, 2000
Partner:
Officer
Jay Turner
Muncie
Police Department IN
Thank
you, Officer Turner for your email and good luck in training new GSD, "Rover."
to
help keep our streets safe.
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....
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Police
dog dies of undetected illness
By ANDREA
PEDTKE
MUNCIE
- On a cold, windy evening, Jay Turner and the Muncie Police Department
lost a hard worker, a partner and a friend. Rudo, a 1 1/2-year-old
German shepherd who was Turner's K-9 dog for the past 6 weeks, died during
a K-9 unit demonstration at Heekin Park about 8 p.m. Friday night. Captain
Tony Mench said an autopsy revealed the dog died from a tumor on the aorta,
something that is very difficult to detect. The tumor continued growing
until it burst Friday night, causing Rudo to bleed to death. "We didn't
know what happened until after the autopsy," Mench said. "We have never
had this happen before, so we're at a loss." A memorial service was held
Sunday afternoon at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge on Butterfield
Road. Mench said K-9 officers from the Muncie, Delaware County, Anderson
and Randolph County police departments attended. "The bond that is formed
between a K-9 officer and his dog is unique," Mench said. "They spend every
day together and get emotionally attached. To an officer, their dog is
not just a partner, but a best friend." A prominent community benefactor
who recently died donated money to buy Rudo, according to Mench. The benefactor
wished for his donation to be anonymous. "Maybe Rudo will be a pet for
him in heaven," Mench said. The captain said he was going to throw Turner
"right back into the saddle" by getting him a new dog and having him finish
the K-9 training classes. But for now, Mench hopes a much loved member
of the department's K-9 unit will not soon be forgotten. "We are hoping
to receive donations for a headstone or memorial marker for Rudo," Mench
said. Jay Turner was away at training and could not be reached for comment
on Monday.
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