After nearly two weeks of back and forth between a retired K9 officer and the city of Marietta, Ohio, the former officer gets to stay retired and keep his K9, Ajax.
Ajax was set to go up for auction because he was considered “property” and could still work. The city offered to let retired officer Matt Hickey keep Ajax if he signed on as an auxiliary officer. Hickey declined for health reasons.
Last week the city’s law director called Hickey to settle the issue. “And he said, ‘the way I see it, you get the dog for a dollar,’” Hickey told WBNS TV. “And we paid our dollar and he’s now ours.”
Nearly $72,000 was donated from people around the world to help Hickey buy Ajax at auction. That money will now be given to a special group called Vested Interests for K9’s, a non-profit that helps police departments across the country buy specialized bullet and stab proof vests for their K9’s.
Hickey and his wife now plan to help with new legislation to get the law changed so no other K9 officer has to go through what they went through again.
