End of Watch
Cancer spares no creature.
Add the Stillwater County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Jordy to the list.
Late last week, the Belgian Malinois was unexpectedly diagnosed with cancer, immediately ending his 6-year career, and even sadder, his life. The sheriff’s office announced the following Monday on its Facebook page:
END OF WATCH 8-21-2015
It is with a heavy heart that the Stillwater County Sheriff’s Office announces the passing of K-9 Deputy Jordy. Jordy joined the Department in 2009. After successfully graduating the K-9 program, Jordy was sworn in as a Stillwater County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Deputy. The 8-year-old Belgian Malinois was a narcotics detection trained canine. Jordy was widely praised for the work he did alongside his best friend, partner and handler Deputy Randy Smith. Jordy will be greatly missed.
Distinguished Career
Within his first month of service, Jordy had been involved in six searches and found illegal drugs in three of those. By 2012, the team was conducting 40 to 50 searches a year and providing agency assists for the Columbus Police Department, Montana Highway Patrol, neighboring counties, the Montana Division of Criminal Investigations and federal agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Agency and the FBI.
Jordy’s biggest bust came last year when called to I-90 on an assist to the Montana Highway Patrol. Jordy alerted on the car and when a search warrant was executed, 125 pounds of marijuana was found. The street value was estimated at $736,000.
There were other sizable finds as well: 40 pounds of marijuana, four pounds of methamphetamine, one pound of cocaine and many, many smaller cases. That work brought the county more than $50,000 in cash through drug forfeitures. A recent case that has not yet been adjudicated could potentially triple that figure, said Undersheriff Chip Kem.
Other notable performances on the Belgian Malinois’ resume include tracking and finding two burglary suspects hiding in the Molt area.
A great partner
Smith called Jordy a great partner that in the beginning, required a tremendous amount of time.
“In the first three months I spent more time with him than I did with my family, and I had babies at the time,” said Smith.
The sacrifice, made possible with the support of his wife Suzi, was well worth it, said Smith.
The plan had been to retire the dog at the close of the year, at which time he was set to become the Smiths’ pet, as he was already beloved by the deputy’s three young children. The discovery of the cancer sadly altered that plan.
Smith said the support from law enforcement, the community and strangers has been overwhelming. Since the sheriff’s office posted the news of Jordy’s death on its Facebook page on Monday, it had been shared 92 times and 81 people have left comments as of Wednesday morning. Smith had also been contacted by the Officer Down group (http://www.odmp.org/k9) seeking Jordy’s information so it can be added to that national website.
A retirement ceremony was held for Jordy last Friday at the sheriff’s office at which he was presented with a plaque.
“A K-9’s workable life is anywhere from four to seven years from what I understand, so getting six years out of him was great,” said Kem. “He had just gone through his annual drug certification and Randy was going to continue using him until a replacement was ready to go. Unfortunately, he went downhill fast after being diagnosed with his cancer.”
Although Smith’s heart is still heavy from the loss of his partner, he is already looking toward the future.
“So we will start over with a new dog,” said Smith.