K-9 officer retiring city auctioning the DOG

[Marthe48]

Here is a link to the Gofundme page:

https://www.gofundme.com/yumeagsk

The officer was told he could buy Ajax for $3500.00 and when he went to buy him, the city officials said they were going in another direction. Marietta, Ohio 45750

I hope they get to stay together.

[redwitch]

1. Kicking.

For goodness sake, Ajax and he should be able to retire together. Kicking and hoping to be able to donate to this tomorrow.

[Marthe48]

3. Thank you!

[LiberalElite]

2. I donated a little bit. nt

[Marthe48]

4. You are so kind.

I did too, before I posted the link.

[Laffy Kat]

5. A K-9 cop I know once told me the dogs don't make good pets.

They respond mostly to their handler/partner and can be aloof and temperamental toward others. This doesn't make sense to me. It will be stressful for the dog to retire with a stranger.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

8. Yeah. My neighbor's dad was a K9 cop in Manchester England.

He kept his dogs.

He has a few stories to tell.

I guess they sound funnier coming from this older little English couple in their Manchester accents. The time the postman handed her a package and ended up with a dog latched on his arm. No damage as the postman had a heavy coat on.

[LisaL]

10. They claim that dog is property and as such they have to put him on action.

"The 6-year-old police dog, Ajax, was handled by retired officer Matt Hickey for the dog's entire life and has served alongside Hickey on the force. Ajax has a minimum value of $3,000 as property for the city and as such must be placed on auction."

http://www.mariettatimes.com/page/content.detail/id/581964.html

[AngryOldDem]

27. I think that's all the more reason to keep them together.

Not to mention the bond that they already have. This dog, for all intents and purposes, is a law enforcement officer. Best to keep him with his partner rather than auction him off to the highest bidder who may not ultimately be able to handle him. He is not a "pet" in the usual definition of the term, at least to my mind.

It's just common sense. You don't separate a dog from his people, especially in this case.

[Laffy Kat]

30. Absolutely. nt

[jen63]

33. He gets to keep him!!

Link to presser below. Hickey will work auxiliary until Ajax retires.




Oops, edit; I posted the link in GD.

[Flaxbee]

6. kicking.

this is horrible. Officer Hickey should be able to keep his partner! I hope other cities don't join this trend!

[Marthe48]

12. Ohio Revised Code

Whoever wrote the law and voted it in is heartless.

[Liberal_in_LA]

14. exactly

[AngryOldDem]

28. Is there any talk about amending the law to fix this? n/t

[Duppers]

7. The Marietta police and city official need dozens of

Last edited Fri Jan 29, 2016, 02:45 AM - Edit history (1)

Blistering phone calls and emails. This bullcrap.


Cindy Oxender, commissioner of employee relations:
[email protected]

[AngryOldDem]

29. People need to contact the Ohio legislature.

Get them to amend the statute to exempt animals from the property definition. The city has to follow the law as it is right now, as heartless and nonsensical as it is.

[LisaL]

9. Dog is considered "property" with a minimum value of $3,000.

"The 6-year-old police dog, Ajax, was handled by retired officer Matt Hickey for the dog's entire life and has served alongside Hickey on the force. Ajax has a minimum value of $3,000 as property for the city and as such must be placed on auction."

http://www.mariettatimes.com/page/content.detail/id/581964.html

[Marthe48]

13. Thank you!

I don't think I've ever seen this much outrage in Marietta. The Go Fund Me total exceeded the first request and the person who made it raised the amount and it is exceeded again. I personally think that the officer should go to the auction with at least $11,500.00 I was looking at trained police dog values last night and asking price for an untrained 2 year old Belgian Malinois is $11,500.00. However, no matter what value Ajax has as a trained police dog, he is priceless to Officer Hickey.

Thank you for your interest and support.

[LisaL]

16. Potential buyers will be submitting sealed bids to be opened on a certain date.

So he won't actually know how much other others are bidding (assuming anyone else is going to bid).

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/retired-k-9-officer-told-he-cant-keep-dog-n507851

[Marthe48]

15. This story went viral

As of just now Jan. 31, 2016 1:55 PM est, the Go Fund Me request has raised $44,451.00. News outlets have picked up the story and it is spread literally all over the world. People from all over the U.S. and other countries are leaving comments on the news sites and Marietta, Ohio facebook page. The response to this story is amazing. Marietta is obeying a state law, so I hope that people who care about this story will contact the Ohio Legislature to get the law changed.

I read that Ohio is the only state east of the Mississippi that allows dogs in general (such as puppy mills, bankrupt pet shops) to be auctioned, and if that hasn't changed, it should!

[jen63]

17. I live 45 minutes from Marietta.

It's a great little town on the river.

Here is the city website if any one would like to contact them in the morning. I know that they're going to hear from me.
http://www.mariettaoh.net/

[Marthe48]

18. I'm in Marietta

I love this town. Even with things like this happening.

[jen63]

19. Howdy neighbor!

[Marthe48]

21. :) Howdy!

[jen63]

25. Cambridge.

[Purrfessor]

20. I'm in Gallipolis. I know Marietta well.

[Marthe48]

22. We love the French 500

Hoping to go a lot more often this year

[Purrfessor]

23. I've driven by it many times yet never stopped...

When I lived in Florida during the 70s I went to yard sales and flea markets nearly every weekend for over two years. I probably only missed 4 or 5 weekends. I still have the several thousand albums I bought. At some point in the next few years I have to find a dealer to take them off my hands. I should check the flea market here to see if there are any record dealers.

[Marthe48]

24. We like looking for

glass, porcelain and pottery. And anything that catches our eye Vinyl records were in the news last year, people love the sound of them. We have our collection of records from back then, nothing to play them on.

[Purrfessor]

26. Same here. No turntable anymore.

[magical thyme]

31. it's up to $66,000 now.

I hope nobody else bids.

[jen63]

32. Hickey gets to keep Ajax

if he works auxiliary, until Ajax retires. There's a link to the presser in GD. So relieved!

[Marthe48]

34. As of February 5 Officer Hickey gets Ajax

Sorry I didn't follow up sooner. Officer Hickey will keep Ajax, woohoo! The Go Fund Me donations will be used to buy protective gear for other K-9 dogs. Here are some links about how the story turned out:

The legal opinion:
https://www.facebook.com/citymariettaohio/posts/1255888617771143

Dem. State Rep. Lou Gentile proposed a bill to change/clarify Ohio law:
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/02/03/lawmaker-proposes-bill-to-allow-k9-partners-to-retire-with-officers.html

The Go Fund Me account with 13 updates:
https://www.gofundme.com/yumeagsk?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=email&utm_content=cta_button&utm_campaign=upd_n

Thanks to all the DUers who supported and followed this story. The response fromall over the world was amazing!