Miss-Delectable
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The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO - K-9 officer likely will be blind, deaf on one side
A police dog shot in the head early Tuesday by a robbery suspect has likely lost sight in one eye and may be deaf in one ear, a Joplin police officer said.
Officer Travis Walthall, supervisor of the Joplin Police Department’s K-9 unit, said by telephone that the dog, Cezar, is expected to survive the gunshot wound unless complications arise.
Cezar was in stable but guarded condition Tuesday at Academy Animal Hospital. Mark Storey, 201 E. 15th St., is the veterinarian for the department’s police dogs.
“The bullet that hit Cezar struck him above the right eye, slightly to the left of his right eye,” Walthall said. “It did not penetrate the skull although it did fracture it in a couple of places.”
The officer who works with Cezar, Gabe Allen, was off duty and unavailable Tuesday after the shooting to talk about the ordeal or about Cezar’s work record, said Lt. Geoff Jones.
Jones said Cezar is nearly 8 years old and has been with the department since 2001. Jones said he did not have Cezar’s records immediately available to say how many apprehensions the dog had made or other details about the dog’s background.
Walthall is in Elkhart, Ind., attending a canine training session. He is there with another of the department’s four officers who work with police dogs. Walthall said they were notified by telephone at 4 a.m. Tuesday of the shooting.
“We were both actually sick to our stomachs,” Walthall said of his and his co-worker’s reaction to learning that Cezar had been wounded. “We work together so much, there’s obviously an unbelievable bond between an officer and dog.”
He said one shot hit the dog above the right eye, and the bullet fragmented. The veterinarian doesn’t believe that the fragments pose more danger to the dog, though he was going to send test results and X-rays to a specialist for a second opinion, Walthall said Storey told him.
Storey declined to speak to reporters Tuesday because he was tending the dog, which was described as being in a semi-conscious condition, Jones said.
Walthall, who is in Indiana training a new dog after retiring his canine partner of six years, Max, said the JPD dogs are trained to bite and hold rather than bark and hold a suspect.
Cezar is among about 450 police dogs at work in the state of Missouri, said Gary Smith, a retired Raytown police officer who is president of the Missouri Police Canine Association.
Smith said Cezar’s injuries may sideline the dog, but he did what K-9’s are trained to do. “I’m saddened they’re going to lose a member of the department in the dog, but it probably would have been an officer” shot if not for the dog.
“That’s one of the main reasons to have dogs,” he said. “I can replace a dog. I can’t replace a father or a brother or a mother. It sounds to me this dog did his job for the handler.”
Jones said he does not remember another JPD dog being injured in the line of the duty, although one of the department’s dogs died of heat exhaustion when it was left in a police cruiser about 15 years ago.
Smith said that is the most common cause of K-9 deaths. “We lose more due to heat than we do line-of-duty injury or death,” Smith said.
Jones and Walthall discouraged sending food or treats to the department to honor the injured police dog.
Jones said flowers or other tributes may be sent to the department to be forwarded to Cezar and his handler, but treats and food would not be given to the dog.
K-9 roster
The Joplin Police Department has four police dogs. In addition to Cezar, there is Ricky, Ikar and Bullit. Bullit is in training to replace Max, a dog that was retired from service about two weeks ago at the age of 10. Max is to be kept by his handler, Officer Travis Walthall.
A police dog shot in the head early Tuesday by a robbery suspect has likely lost sight in one eye and may be deaf in one ear, a Joplin police officer said.
Officer Travis Walthall, supervisor of the Joplin Police Department’s K-9 unit, said by telephone that the dog, Cezar, is expected to survive the gunshot wound unless complications arise.
Cezar was in stable but guarded condition Tuesday at Academy Animal Hospital. Mark Storey, 201 E. 15th St., is the veterinarian for the department’s police dogs.
“The bullet that hit Cezar struck him above the right eye, slightly to the left of his right eye,” Walthall said. “It did not penetrate the skull although it did fracture it in a couple of places.”
The officer who works with Cezar, Gabe Allen, was off duty and unavailable Tuesday after the shooting to talk about the ordeal or about Cezar’s work record, said Lt. Geoff Jones.
Jones said Cezar is nearly 8 years old and has been with the department since 2001. Jones said he did not have Cezar’s records immediately available to say how many apprehensions the dog had made or other details about the dog’s background.
Walthall is in Elkhart, Ind., attending a canine training session. He is there with another of the department’s four officers who work with police dogs. Walthall said they were notified by telephone at 4 a.m. Tuesday of the shooting.
“We were both actually sick to our stomachs,” Walthall said of his and his co-worker’s reaction to learning that Cezar had been wounded. “We work together so much, there’s obviously an unbelievable bond between an officer and dog.”
He said one shot hit the dog above the right eye, and the bullet fragmented. The veterinarian doesn’t believe that the fragments pose more danger to the dog, though he was going to send test results and X-rays to a specialist for a second opinion, Walthall said Storey told him.
Storey declined to speak to reporters Tuesday because he was tending the dog, which was described as being in a semi-conscious condition, Jones said.
Walthall, who is in Indiana training a new dog after retiring his canine partner of six years, Max, said the JPD dogs are trained to bite and hold rather than bark and hold a suspect.
Cezar is among about 450 police dogs at work in the state of Missouri, said Gary Smith, a retired Raytown police officer who is president of the Missouri Police Canine Association.
Smith said Cezar’s injuries may sideline the dog, but he did what K-9’s are trained to do. “I’m saddened they’re going to lose a member of the department in the dog, but it probably would have been an officer” shot if not for the dog.
“That’s one of the main reasons to have dogs,” he said. “I can replace a dog. I can’t replace a father or a brother or a mother. It sounds to me this dog did his job for the handler.”
Jones said he does not remember another JPD dog being injured in the line of the duty, although one of the department’s dogs died of heat exhaustion when it was left in a police cruiser about 15 years ago.
Smith said that is the most common cause of K-9 deaths. “We lose more due to heat than we do line-of-duty injury or death,” Smith said.
Jones and Walthall discouraged sending food or treats to the department to honor the injured police dog.
Jones said flowers or other tributes may be sent to the department to be forwarded to Cezar and his handler, but treats and food would not be given to the dog.
K-9 roster
The Joplin Police Department has four police dogs. In addition to Cezar, there is Ricky, Ikar and Bullit. Bullit is in training to replace Max, a dog that was retired from service about two weeks ago at the age of 10. Max is to be kept by his handler, Officer Travis Walthall.
sigh..