Hanging up the leash
Marysville police dog retires after eight years of service
Retiring at age 9 is pretty much unheard of, unless you’re fourlegged and served eight years as a police dog.
Alaska, a female Belgian Malinois, is settling down after her work as an apprehension and protection police dog with the Marysville Police Department. A retirement ceremony was held at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
She has come in quite handy for her handler and Officer Rob Kesterson.
“There’s been a couple of people who said they wanted to fight me or try to flee the scene, but when they heard the dog, they turned themselves in,” Kesterson said. “It was a great thing to know that she had my back every time I stepped out of the car and even when I was in the car.”
Although officially retired from the department, Alaska will remain with Kesterson – even though she still wants to work.
“It does hurt a little when she sees me getting ready for work and she gets excited but she doesn’t get to go,” Kesterson said. “Hopefully, in the near future, we’ll find the funding to get anther dog at the department, but not too soon to make Alaska feel bad.”
Kesterson, who joined the department in 2011 and partnered with Alaska about a year later, said he’s been working with dogs since before he was in the police academy.
“I started being the decoy, the bite suit guy, while training with other departments before I joined the academy and continued with that training when I was in the academy,” he said. “I got to see multiple dogs work in different scenarios.”
Interim Police Chief Chris Sachs said having a dog on the force adds value.
“The value of K-9 teams in law enforcement has long been recognized as a significant and effective tool,” Sachs said. “K-9 teams are experts in locat- ing suspects and missing persons, building and open field searches, assisting in crowd control, and deescalating tense situations, among other things.”
Sachs said their superior sense of smell, hearing and controlled aggressiveness are reasons why police dogs are a valuable supplement to law enforcement.
“In addition to their use for law enforcement activities, K-9’s are a great compliment to commu- nity service efforts,” Sachs said. “Alaska has been a member of the Marysville Police Department family for the past eight years and she will be greatly missed.”
Alaska’s reward is that she now gets to enjoy the rest and relaxation that comes with retirement.
“I was strict with her diet and training, but now she gets to eat a little more human food,” Kesterson said. “She’s going to have her fair share of downtime.”
“Alaska has been a member of the Marysville Police Department family for the past eight years and she will be greatly missed.” Chris Sachs, Marysville interim police chief