Officer Got Horrible News About What Will Happen to His K-9 Partner When He Retires

Marietta police officer Matthew Hickey was looking forward to retiring. It was expected that his partner, K-9 Officer Ajax, would be going with him. The two are bonded and there isn’t another officer trained for K-9 work on the force.

Then, Hickey was informed that Ajax was considered property. And as property, Hickey wasn’t even permitted to purchase the dog since the dog still had some service years ahead of him.

He offered to pay $3,500 for the dog, which is what the city paid for him. Instead, Ajax was going to be sold at an auction to the highest bidder.

This downright cruel news was a devastating blow to Hickey. The pair had worked, trained and lived together over the years. Ajax was part of Hickey’s family and was beloved by his grandson.

The internet rallied around this pair. A Go Fund Me account was set up with a goal of $3,500, but there was quite a bit of excess money that was raised. That will go towards protective vests for K-9 officers.

This public relations nightmare left Marietta scrambling. The city was being flooded with emails and phone calls. They offered to make Hickey an auxiliary police officer which would allow him to keep Ajax. This will remain in effect until Ajax is able to retire from the police force.

You can see the press conference below.

This is what happens when dumb laws are created. Outrage leads to a loophole around the stupid law. At least the City of Marietta responded quickly.

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H/T: Fido 4Ever