Retired Richardson K-9 Responsible For 700+ Arrests Needs Money For Surgery
RICHARDSON (CBSDFW.COM) - A recent retiree from the Richardson Police Department, it seems the demands of the job finally caught up to K-9 Ringo, who's suffering from a perineal hernia.
Having spent almost seven years chasing bad guys, sniffing out drugs, protecting officers, finding lost people (especially children), and deterring aggression - Ringo now needs the community's help.
His diagnosis means expensive surgery is needed and since the 9-year-old Belgian Malinois is no longer working for the City, all care and medical expenses are the responsibility of his former police partner.
The Richardson Citizen Police Academy Alumni Association (RCPAAA) seeks to honor their two-legged veterans with some of the veterinary expenses that might arise during retirement. There's a special fund set up to help pay for some of Ringo's veterinary expenses that will result from that surgery, but more money is needed.
A GoFundMe campaign was launched to help replenish the fund too.
In anticipation of Ringo's surgery, RCPAAA is seeking to build up the fund to not only cover his upcoming procedure, but to create a balance that will aid in any future medical bills.
Ringo was born in Holland. His initial training was in Dutch but after joining the RPD, he was trained using German commands, proving a variation of the old saying "you can't teach a seasoned officer a new 'trick', but you can teach a young dog a new language."
During his service with the department, Ringo made 94 apprehensions. He was deployed to search for narcotics several thousand times and detected its presence more than 1100 times resulting in about 700 arrests.
Once trained, K-9s usually can work about 5 years before the physical demands of the job force them to retire. In most cases, their RPD partner assumes ownership and becomes responsible for their care and feeding. Medical expenses for these retired dogs can add up.