An online fundraiser has been launched to help with medical costs for a retired Chatham-Kent police service dog.
Arry, a 9-year-old Belgian Malinois, retired from the Chatham-Kent Police Service in 2019 after spending six years with the force.
According to the charity organization Ned's Wish, Arry has faced multiple physical ailments in the past couple of years.
"In 2019, Arry had surgery on his left knee for a damaged cruciate ligament due to demands of his job as a police dog. In humans, his surgery would be equivalent to the ACL repair," the organization said. "While Arry fully recovered from the surgery, he retired from his career with the police shortly after."
Arry underwent the same surgery in December 2021 to repair the stability of his other knee. According to Ned's Wish, this often happens due to many factors, including additional pressure and compensation by the good knee.
"This advanced surgery is performed by a board-certified surgeon and costs around $4,000," said the organization. "Arry has a long way to a full recovery as he still has 12-16 weeks of rehabilitation to complete. However, his prognosis looks very good."
Ned's Wish has launched the 'Help PSD Arry Run Again' campaign to help raise money to go towards supporting Arry's medical bills. The organization describes itself as being dedicated to improving the life of retired police dogs and helping the owners of police dog retirees cover some or all of their pet's medical bills. Because the work police dogs do is so physically demanding, Ned's Wish said people who adopt retired police dogs can be left with substantial and costly health issues.
K9 Officer Arry and his handler Constable Rick Bertok. Photo courtesy of CKPS.
According to Chatham-Kent police, during his time with the service, Arry attended 700 calls, helped with 75 arrests, detected over $128,000 worth of illegal drugs, $11,000 worth of stolen property and recovered four firearms.
"While working, Arry was a very accomplished police service dog, selflessly serving his community with passion and dedication," said Ned's Wish.
The organization's goal is to raise $4,000 in the next three weeks to help support Arry. If the goal is exceeded, the additional funds will be used to support other retired police dogs registered with Ned's Wish.