COLUMBUS — Bravo needs knee surgery and the Bartholomew County Sheriff's Office is making sure he gets it.
Bravo, you see, is one of three K9 officers with the department in Columbus. He's a Belgian Malinois and in just ten months on the job, he shown his value. Bravo has been deployed five times on foot pursuits. On 86 occasions, he's sniffed out illegal drugs and he's assisted deputies when they go out to make arrests.
Bravo needs surgery on both knee from injuries that appear to be work-related. But police dogs don't qualify for workmen's compensation or insurance that will pay for the $7,000 operation. “Although funding is not available in the Sheriff’s Office budget, our agency is intent on getting our four-legged partner the medical attention he needs”, said Chief Deputy Major Chris Lane.
“I can’t stress enough the importance of this K9 Unit and the affect Bravo has had on finding and keeping illegal drugs out of our community”, added Sheriff Matt Myers.
In addition to taking calls for service, Bartholomew County K9 officers respond to crimes in progress, vehicular and foot pursuits, burglaries, robberies, missing/lost persons and other calls where a criminal suspect has fled the scene and canine deployment is required.
Here's to a speedy recovery!
