When Officer Matthew Hickey of Ohio’s Marietta Police Department retired after serving for 30 years, it was always his intention to try and adopt his police K9 partner Ajax. Since becoming partners three years earlier, the pooch has been living with Matthew at his home and the two ultimately formed a strong bond. The pooch was already considered part of the family. Unfortunately, the retired officer was denied eligibility for adopting Ajax in particular due to city law regarding ownership of the police dog.
Officers from law enforcement, under Ohio’s state law, give up the right to buy their police dog or horse partner once they leave their unit while the K9 or equine are still able to work. Even though Matthew offered his chief full payment for Ajax which amounted to $3,500, another law – this time mandated by the city – the six-year-old pooch could only be sold in auction for a select few who meet the laws required professions.
News of the difficulties the retired officer was facing just to keep a dog he’s grown to love spread through social media like wildfire. It wasn’t long that support for Matthew’s cause came rushing in. The most significant of these is the GoFundMe page that was able to raise over $40,000 as well as the thousands of comments on Marietta City’s Facebook page calling for officials to let the duo stay together.
Marietta PD offered Matthew a workaround for him to be able to bring Ajax home immediately as long as he took a job as a dog handler for the K9 Unit. Matthew declined this offer since his reasons for retiring were all health-related. However, because of the enormous outcry of netizens to the city, the officials were left with little choice but to make a way for the adoption to happen without breaking the laws still enacted. In the end, Marietta City’s law director sought to render the police K9 unit as being disbanded and therefore enabling Matthew to finally purchase Ajax for the low price of just one dollar.
Source: Youtube | Newsy
