‘PRAYING FOR JYNX’
Retired police K-9 hero, Jynx, battling cancer
Jynx stood at attention, his ears perking up as he nuzzled his family members.
The retired police K-9 and his family on Monday were waiting in the lobby at Hope Veterinary Specialists near Malvern, Chester County, for Jynx’s appointment with a veterinarian.
It was as if the beloved German shepherd, who is nearing 12 years old, knew what the results were going to be: The prognosis in his battle with cancer is good.
Jynx, who was trained in discovering explosives, was retired on June 29, 2011, after his handler, Berks County Deputy Sheriff Kyle D. Pagerly, was ambushed and killed trying to arrest an armed fugitive in a wooded area near Hawk Mountain in Albany Township.
Pagerly died that day at age 28, but his memory lives strong through his family and friends in the law enforcement community.
For the last eight years, Jynx, has been a beloved family dog. He was diagnosed last month.
“Thousands of people are praying for Jynx,” Alecia Pagerly Eberly, Kyle’s widow, said Monday in the lobby. “Jynx meant the world to Kyle. It’s amazing how many people have contacted me about Jynx. The law enforcement community is like
one giant family. We have people coming as far as Alaska to our events.”
Jynx has already underwent one dose of chemotherapy. He has four more chemotherapy sessions scheduled.
Jynx cuddled with family members as Dr. Christine Mullin stepped into the lobby: “He is a really good boy. Our chances of helping him are high.”
Mullin said that Jynx was responding well to chemotherapy.
“He likes the doctor’s office,” Alecia said, as Jynx pranced into the back office for his bloodwork. ‘He’s very protective’ For the last eight years, Jynx has been with Alecia and her husband, Chad Eberly, of Sinking Spring, and the rest of the family: Savannah, 7, and Makenzie, 3.
He loves running, playing and going on camping trips with the family.
“He loves to run around with the kids,” Alecia said. “He’s very protective of the children.”
“He gives us kisses,” Savannah said.
Alecia said that in June, Jynx was not his usual frisky self. On June 17, she said, he was passed out on the floor.
At first, she thought he had a seizure.
The family took Jynx to Malvern, where the veterinarians discovered a mass on his spleen.
“He had emergency surgery, and then we went home,” Alecia said. “Thank God we came here. We went home and waited for the results.”
The prognosis was that Jynx has hemangiosarcoma, a form of malignant cancer that arises from the cells that line blood vessels of various tissues of the body.
The family decided to go ahead with chemotherapy.
Jynx was recovering from the therapy during the recent holiday weekend.
Alecia shared that Jynx did not react well to the loud noise from the fireworks being set off in the neighborhood.
Mullin then assured Alecia that the noise from the fireworks was a temporary setback, and that Jynx will recover well from the chemotherapy.
Outpouring of support
In the meantime, Alecia said, the community has reached out to the family, providing emotional support.
“We are just so happy,” Alecia said.
Alecia said that Jynx is the only dog she has ever had.
“I was in a small apartment in Reading when Kyle brought home this big, police dog,” Alecia recalled. “He was a great dog.”
The hope is that the chemotherapy continues to be a success.
Mullin assured the family that the therapy will go well.
In 2009, Berks County Sheriff Eric Weaknecht started a K-9 unit, pairing a young Jynx with Kyle.
The two went on searches at the county prison and performed demonstrations for organizations.
Weaknecht said on that fateful, Kyle was doing his job searching for a dangerous suspect with a taskforce of state, county and federal officials.
Doing their jobs
The search was triggered by an incident the night before in which Matthew Connor, who was precluded from owning weapons, fired gunshots in his home, according to court records.
During the search in the woods, Jynx led the taskforce to Connor, who was dressed in camouflage and armed with an AK-47.
In the gunfire, Kyle was hit and killed and the taskforce returned fire, killing Connor.
Later, Connor’s father, Maurice, then 72, was charged with providing Connor with a .32-caliber handgun. Maurice Conner was convicted and sentenced to six to 32 months in county prison.
Another defendant, Jared D. Engelman, then 27, of Perry Township, was accused of giving Matthew Connor the assault weapon that killed Pagerly.
Engelman was sentenced to two to four years in state prison for conspiring to transfer an AK-47 to Matthew Connor, who was precluded from having weapons.
Alecia takes solace in knowing that Kyle and Jynx were doing the right thing.
Alecia shared that Jynx guided law enforcement personnel through the dense forest to Kyle’s body after the deputy was fatally injured.
“If it were not for Jynx, other law enforcement officers could have been killed,” Alecia said.
Alecia said her daughters and Jynx stop by the courthouse from time to time to visit the deputies.
“Everyone is always asking about Jynx,” Weaknecht said. “They want to know about him and how he is he doing. The new deputies are interested in learning about Kyle and the way he lived his life.
“Kyle was constantly helping people,” Weaknecht added. “He was in the military. The night he was killed, Kyle was doing exactly what he was trained to do. He was trying the detain the defendant.”
“He loves to run around with the kids. He’s very protective of the children.”
_ Alecia Eberly