On Wednesday, Southgate city officials honored and thanked retiring K-9 Officer Cody, a German Shepherd police service dog. Cody has served the city with his human partner, Officer Garrett Haynes, for seven years.
Haynes asked the city to allow him to purchase Cody for $1 so his dog could live out his remaining years with Haynes and his family.
As with many German Shepherds his age, Cody is suffering from hip displasia. Officials and doctors decided it was time for him to retire.
Mayor Jim Hamberg said the city will not replace the dog due to cost and the availability of K-9 officers in neighboring cities. The specially equipped police vehicle will be sold.
An unexpected twist
Haynes brought Cody to the council meeting to make the retirement official, but he was in for a surprise. Near the end of the meeting, he stood with Cody for photos and a reading of an official resolution retiring the dog and allowing its sale.
Southgate Police Chief John Christmann then stepped forward and spoke about Haynes’ service.
“I just want everybody to know…in the last several years, even though Garrett’s been a canine handler, I’ve been piling on a lot of responsibility onto him.” Christmann said. “I’ve said this to the mayor before —he’s the future of the department. He’s been a canine handler for several years. He’s one of our drone pilots. I put him in charge of a drone program when the VFW was kind enough to give us a drone. It’s probably the hardest class he’s ever taken… He passed and did a great job with it.”
The chief went on to note how he asked Haynes to step up and be in charge of two new recruits during their time at the police academy and in field training. He said Haynes is also the officer in charge of the police evidence room, a big responsibility. He said these are leadership duties worthy of a sergeant.
Those present soon learned the chief’s words were more than praise for a job well done. As soon as Christmann finished speaking, Hamberg rose and brought something to Haynes. It was a sergeant’s stripes, symbolic of Haynes’ promotion to sergeant.
The chief said he’d told no one at the police department about the promotion. He wanted it to be a surprise. Using the occasion of Cody’s retirement as a ruse to ensure Haynes’ family could witness his promotion, Christmann asked Haynes to bring his wife and children to the council meeting.
Haynes was indeed surprised. He said it was his decision not to bring his family to Cody’s retirement announcement because it was a school night. After learning the real reason the chief wanted him to bring his family, he laughed and said, “Oh, I’m dead.”