Farewell My Friend     by Sergeant Steve Klein
It’s never easy to lose a friend or a loved one, let alone your partner who has been by your side day and night. Being a K-9 officer brings many positive experiences and opportunities. I recently was faced with that harsh reality with the passing of my partner, K-9 Zeiko. Zeiko was an 8-year-old German Shepherd imported from Europe. I was teamed up with Zeiko in May of 1995.

The first day I went to K-9 school, they had all the dogs in the central kennel. I went out to the kennel and there was this beautiful dog with his tail wagging feverishly.  Our eyes locked onto one another and we just stared at each other for a moment as his tail continued to wag. We hit it off right away, forming a very tight bond that even surprised the instructors and other students in the class. It was as if we were meant to be together and had known each other forever.

Even my 5-year-old son recognized the incredible bond that Zeiko and I shared. My son Landon had asked my wife Carmen, “How come Zeiko doesn’t look at me like he looks at Daddy.” My wife asked him what he meant. Landon said, “Zeiko looks at Daddy so special, and he doesn’t look at me or anyone else like that.” It is a bond only other K-9 handlers will ever get to know or truly appreciate.

Zeiko died from Hermangio-Sarcoma, a form of cancer which can start out as a small skin tumor, not visible to the eye. It can get into the blood vessels and balloon out over night. Most often, once the cancer is diagnosed, death will occur in1 to 4 weeks. Until Zeiko was diagnosed with cancer, he had been very healthy with only a torn pad or a wound from a dogfight with one of his fellow K-9s. 

On May 15, 2003, I noticed Zeiko had a slight limp that I had not previously noticed. Much to my surprise, I saw a tumor on Zeiko’s left hindquarter which seemed to appear overnight. I took him to my local vet who suggested I take him to the Animal Referral Center in Appleton right away. Once at the hospital in Appleton, the bad news was relayed, cancer which had already spread throughout his system. Nothing could be done for him but they did not believe Zeiko was in any pain at the moment. A prognosis of 2 to 4 weeks was given during which I would monitor his quality of life.

Normally Zeiko was an outside dog, but I brought him into the house to spend the remainder of his time in the house with his family. Zeiko seemed to be doing well, except for an occasional limp, and he continued to eat and drink normally, and even played sometimes. I was still hoping he would prove the doctors wrong.

After letting Zeiko outside on the morning of May 23rd, I went to check on him.  After calling him for several minutes, he came around the corner of the house crawling on his front 2 legs, completely dragging his back end on the ground. As soon as he saw me, he laid down. I let him rest a minute, thinking that the tumor was rubbing on the nerve as I was told it might by the doctor. I once again called Zeiko’s name and he tried with every ounce of energy to come to me.  He collapsed to the ground and once again our eyes locked as they did that first time we had met.  I knew at this time that my friend was telling me he could fight no longer. Within a half hour, all of the K-9 handlers in our unit showed up at my house. They honored Zeiko by turning on their squad car emergency lights while escorting us to the vet. With his last bit of strength, Zeiko stretched his head and neck up to try and look out the window. The vet gave Zeiko a couple of shots and soon thereafter Zeiko left us, with me holding his head in my arms, with family and friends by his side.

The members of our K-9 Unit and I planned a memorial for Zeiko at our department. I would urge all departments to offer their K-9 officers the opportunity to have a memorial service.  It was very therapeutic for me to have the chance to say goodbye to my partner and to see the outpouring of support from the other K-9 handlers throughout the state and the citizens we served. It doesn’t take much planning and something this simple goes a long way.

Zeiko lived for 2 things. He lived to work and to please me, and he loved to play with kids. It was no secret that Zeiko loved to take a bite out of crime, literally. Every time he would catch someone and we would escort the bad guy back to our squad, Zeiko would actually get a big smile on his face that spread from ear to ear.

Officers had to chase down a guy who had stolen a car and gotten into an accident.  I responded and began to assist with subduing the subject as he was now fighting with officers.  The suspect was swinging wildly and kicking.  We tried pepper spray with no effect.  The next thing I knew, here was this dog grabbing the guy by the leg. Zeiko knew we had our hands full with this guy, so had jumped through the divider into the front seat and out to the door to help us!  Even with Zeiko hanging onto the suspect and having been pepper sprayed, the suspect still put up a fight but we were able to get him cuffed.

Zeiko loved children and always tried to engage them in playing tug-of-war with him. Last week, the neighbor’s dog was out and jumping on some kids. Even with Zeiko as sick as he was, he ran over and cut in front of the other dog and growled as if to say, “don’t jump on the kids.”  Zeiko’s love for children carried over to his work. He once tracked to a playground where a suicidal 13-year-old was found hiding in a tube slide. By finding her so quickly, she was able to get the emergency help she needed after taking several medications.  Zeiko probably saved her life.

I could go on for hours with stories of Zeiko, but by now I think the picture is clear of what Zeiko meant to me. Zeiko served the citizens of Fond du Lac with pride and dignity. He was always there when I needed him and never thought twice about having to put his life in jeopardy for me.

I salute you Zeiko.
Goodbye, my partner, my friend.