K9s provide invaluable services to the police force and our military. They may enjoy the work, but they still work hard, giving the best years of their lives to their beloved humans and even to people they’ve never met. When they are ready to retire, the least we can do for them is ensure they have good homes, clean beds, medical care, and the basic comforts we would offer any pet.
Many times, a retired working dog lives with the family of the police officer or military member he served with, but that isn’t always possible for a variety of reasons. If another suitable family isn’t found for a senior K9, he may end up in a place like K9 Hero Haven, which is a kennel specifically set up to house retired working dogs.
It’s sad enough that a heroic figure like one of these K9s might live out his final days without a family to love him, but what’s even sadder is when he ends up neglected or abused after spending so much time giving his best self to the public. That’s what happened to the 28 senior dogs at K9 Hero Haven in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.
“These dogs came from military work, whether that be contract work or directly for the United States military,” says Director of Animal Law Enforcement and Shelter Services Nicole Wilson. “They came from police departments, so retired bomb detection, drug dogs, or protection dogs.”
The Bureau of Dog Law conducted a routine inspection at K9 Hero Haven last year and discovered kennels covered in feces and blood, as well as water dishes covered in green algae. Many of the dogs were suffering from untreated medical conditions.
Animal Law Enforcement was contacted, cases were opened, and, over the course of several months, the PSPCA accepted 28 dogs, including German Shepherds, Belgian Malinois and a Labrador retriever, into their care as custody was granted to them. They have worked hard to heal the physical and mental wounds that have been inflicted upon the dogs and are actively searching for new homes for them.
The owner of K9 Hero Haven has now pled guilty to the crime of animal cruelty and had her kennel license revoked, although more animal cruelty cases are still pending.
Many of the 28 dogs have been able to find new loving homes after being extricated from this horrible situation. The PSPCA reports that they’ve traveled as far as Alaska and Arkansas to live with their new forever families. But there are still 10 dogs left who have not been able to find families yet.
These poor dogs, our K9 heroes, have lived out some of what should be their golden years in unspeakably awful conditions. As a nation, we owe so much to the working dogs who have served in our military and on our police forces. We should take responsibility for insuring these heroes spend their remaining days in the care of people who respect and honor them.
“These dogs performed a service for us to keep the public safe, to keep our soldiers safe, and so our goal is to provide them with the retirement that they earned,” Wilson says. “These guys need their retirement home, and we’re looking to the public to help us with that.”
The PSPCA is specifically looking for people who have experience with working dogs. May all these K9s find homes soon.
