Covington has a new dog park!
The city cut the ribbon on the K-9 Ernie Memorial Dog Park located in Hands Pike Park off Hands Pike in South Covington Tuesday.
The new park is named after Covington Police K-9 Ernie, the namesake of a state law that made it a felony to assault a police dog. It is the city’s third and southernmost dog park.
“I’ve always found that dog parks are the thing that really helps me find community,” said Covington Commissioner Tim Downing, who first pitched the idea of the park. “When I had my dog I would come out to parks like this to be able to commune with my neighbors. So, it’s really special, very meaningful to be able to plan the park and bring this park to life.”
K-9 Ernie began working for Covington PD in 2012, according to a city press release. He was shot twice in 2015 while pursuing a murder suspect but recovered. Ernie would later survive two car crashes while on the job, according to reporting from WCPO and WKRC. A crash Ernie survived in 2018 actually became the basis for the first person to be charged with a felony offense under Ernie’s law, making Ernie both the law’s namesake and its first beneficiary. Ernie died in 2021 from cancer.
Ernie’s trainer, Covington Police Specialist Mike Lusardi, spoke at the ribbon-cutting and even cut the ribbon.
“He was a great dog, great partner,” Lusardi said. “A fairly challenging dog to train and work with, but he produced a lot on the street, putting a lot of bad guys in jail.”
The K-9 Ernie Memorial Dog Park closes nightly at dusk with the rest of Hands Pike Park.
