Update 2/1/16: The city of Marietta has announced that Officer Hickey can keep his dog as long as he becomes an auxiliary officer. This decision comes after a weekend of social media chatter that raised over $65,000 so Officer Hickey could purchase the dog in an upcoming auction the city was to hold to sell K9 Ajax rather then let his retired handler have him. You can read our original story below.
When Marietta (OH) police officer Matthew Hickey announced his retirement this week after 34 years of service, his story went viral for reasons no one could have predicted.
Hickey has been a K9 officer for the last four years and since he is the only K9 officer in the department, he assumed that his retirement would mean his dog, Ajaz, would retire with him and his family.
But Ajax was purchased by the city and according to Ohio State Law 721.15, if the estimated value of city property is $1,000 or more it must be sold in an auction to the highest bidder.
To determine the dog’s value, the city hired an outside vendor who said Ajax was worth $3,500
Hickey offered to purchase the dog for $3500 but the city will move forward on an auction.
Hickey’s family including his daughter are distraught.
Details on the auction have not been released yet but recent fundraising is attempting to make sure that Hickey and his family get to take Ajax home.
At the time of this report, over $55,000 has been raised on Go Fund Me and over 20,000 signatures had been gathered on Change.org.
While these funds give us confidence that Ajax will be able to go home with his family, Law Officer Editor In Chief Travis Yates has an idea for the city of Marietta,
“If Ajax is valued at $3500 then any amount that Officer Hickey has to donate over that to win this bid, the right thing to do is to donate those excess funds to the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation that supports K9 Units and Service Dog programs across the United States.”
You can give that advise to the city of Marietta by contacting them at: [email protected].