Bodi, the 11-year-old German shepherd police K-9 shot three times Wednesday afternoon during an incident between Montgomery police and an armed robbery suspect, is on the mend.
"I don't think it's a miracle that he's alive, but I will be honest I think it's a miracle that he's getting his sight back in his right eye. That I'm truly surprised by," Speight said.
The suspect exchanged fire with police and was wounded. Bodi helped catch suspect Frank Raven, 19. Raven has been charged with first-degree robbery, a felony; three counts of second-degree attempted assault; and attempting to kill a dog used by a peace officer, a misdemeanor.
Bodi, pronounced "body," engaged with the suspect and did not retreat once he was shot.
"His main focus was to apprehend the offender yesterday," said Tony Loria, commander of the K-9 bureau. "That was what he was geared for. He's always protecting his partner in any situation, but at that time he was in the mode to seek out and locate where the bad guy was hiding and then apprehend."
Speight said he doubted Bodi was aware of what had happened because his adrenaline was pumping.
"This dog has been through a tremendous amount of training, and one of the things he's trained for is to protect that guy he's with," Speight said. "During this incident, I can promise you that this dog had a tremendous amount of adrenaline running through his veins. When you have that sort of adrenaline surge, him being shot three times did not faze him. I can promise you that. The last thing on his mind was what had just happened to him."
Speight said Bodi was alert when he arrived at the hospital, something he called "amazing."
Bodi went through two surgeries. During the first Wednesday evening, doctors removed the left eye, which was damaged beyond repair. He underwent another operation this morning on his left eye.
Bodi will stay at the animal hospital until the first of next week and will come back in after two weeks for an evaluation.
Speight consulted an ophthalmologist this morning who said it could take up to two weeks before Bodi sight in his right eye.
Bodi will be honorably retired from the department and adopted by his handler, who has not been named. Capt. William Caulfield, assistant commander in the patrol unit, said it is normal practice to retire K-9 officers to their handler's home because of the bond between the two.
He was brought into the unit in 2002 and Cpl. Andrew Magnus, a former K-9 unit officer who now serves in the robbery homicide division, was his former handler.
"He's like one of the family," Magnus said. "He's always been a great dog and a great partner. He's always been there, like he was yesterday. They'll always be there for you."
Caulfield said the unit already has plans to bring in another K-9 from Northport to replace Bodi. The dogs typically cost around $5,000 and undergo extensive training. At any given time the MPD has around 10 K-9s. Depending on the dog's health, it could serve in the unit up to about nine years.
Police Chief Kevin Murphy said the department has received many calls from the public asking how they can help. Murphy said anyone who wants can make a donation to the police department and all the funds will be used for the working dogs. Bodi's medical care will be paid for by the police department for the rest of his life.
No comments:
Post a Comment