Sheriff’s search K9 retires after 9 years of service

Published 9:20 pm Friday, July 8, 2016

He’s spent his career using his sense of smell as a crime-fighting weapon.

Under houses, inside cars, in woods his nose was his guide, helping the Warren County Sheriffs Department protect the public almost nine years.

Zeus, a former apprehension canine for the sheriff’s department, is finally going to get the chance to watch police crime shows on TV instead of living them each day.

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At Tuesday’s Warren County Board of Supervisors meeting, the 11-year old, 60-pound crime fighter, officially entered retirement.

“He has conducted hundreds of searches resulting in a multitude of arrests, any number of finds,” said Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace. “He has apprehended fugitives on the run. He has found lost children. This is a well deserved retirement.”

Zeus’ handler for the past two years, Sgt. Ray Thompson, said Zeus would be sorely missed both at the office and at his home.

“He’s basically a member of the family,” he said. “At work, he’s all business. At home, he’s just like any other dog. My two-year-old son would use him as a pillow to watch cartoons.”

Thompson explained that for Zeus, his search skills were a game—a game the greatly benefited the department.

“They associate (a search) with a toy or a treat,” he said. “The end goal is to play, and he still wants to play.”

Zeus, who joined the department in September 2007, sustained a severe cut on his hip years ago that resulted in numerous complications, and the wear and tear of his line of work also led to arthritis problems, Pace said, making it more and more difficult to search.

But despite being able to qualify for Social Security in dog years some time ago, Pace said Zeus loved the work so much he just kept going, only now finally reaching his limit.

“He has the desire. He just can’t physically meet the demands of a police dog anymore. He just can’t take to chasing through the woods or climbing on top of an 18-wheeler searching for dope anymore. You get a dog that serves more than five, six, seven years and you’ve got your money’s worth,” he said, noting that Zeus was actually donated to the department at a value of $10,000. “They don’t get time to lay by the pond and chase frogs. They literally work everyday.

“At some point, the dog gets physically unable to carry out the mission, no different than a human would. Most agencies declare the dog surplus and donate them because the only other option is to euthanize him, and we are just absolutely not doing that,” Pace said.

Thompson said he had to make room for Zeus’ replacement, and therefore, couldn’t keep Zeus himself, which has been hard on him and his family.

“He’s going to be hard to replace,” he said. “He’s going to need someone who can take the time to play with him.”

Zeus’ vet, Dr. Rachel Potter with Animal Medical Hospital, is now his new guardian.

“He is a rock star, worth his weight in gold,” Potter said.

He’s now in the process of becoming part of a permanent home post-retirement, Potter added—one that is equipped to take care of a highly trained animal with medical problems.

“His permanent home is going to have to be pretty well vetted to make sure that they’re going to be able to do the work because he’s highly trained. We want to make sure he goes to the right person. We want to make sure he retires in style,” she said.