SOUTHWICK – Residents and town officials gathered at the VCA Southwick Animal Hospital on Tuesday morning to honor Jax, the former K-9 of the Southwick Police Department.
On August 21, Jax passed away due to a short illness at the age of 12, after spending the majority of his life as the K-9 dog for the department.
The ashes of Jax have a message that reads “Fidelis Ad Mortem,” which means Faithful until Death. (Photo from Kevin Bishop)
In order to honor Jax, Sgt. Tom Krutka arrived at the animal hospital to receive Jax’s ashes. Krutka was Jax’s handler during the time the K-9 was on the Southwick police force.
Members of both the Southwick Police and Fire Departments, K-9 units of local police departments, and people in the community showed their support when Krutka arrived.
A number of K-9 professionals who helped train Jax were in attendance. Joe Brewer of the Wilbraham Police Department K-9 unit, trained Jax in 2008 when he first started. Brewer touched on just how important K-9 dogs are to law enforcement.
“The dogs are very respected members of our department, they’re treated with the same honors as humans are,” said Brewer.
Peter Osowiecki is a member of the K-9 unit at the Suffield Police Department, and he also trained Jax during the same time as Brewer.
“This just goes to show you the outpouring of support that K-9 units have for this country,” said Osowiecki.
Southwick Chief of Police Kevin Bishop was amazed by how many people showed up to the animal hospital on Tuesday.
“We received flowers from the (Southwick) police department in memory of Jax and I want to thank the community and all the K-9 officers that showed up today,” said Bishop. “It was great to have the actual trainers that were a part of Jax’s training over the years and we can’t thank them enough for training that dog to be one of the best.”
Sgt. Tom Krutka is seen holding the ashes of K-9 Jax at the VCA Southwick Animal Hospital on Tuesday morning. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
Jax and Krutka began working together in May of 2007, as Krutka was the K-9 handler for the Southwick Police Department. Throughout their time together, Jax was successful finding lost children, finding wanted suspects, assisting in drug searches, and many other situations.
One of Jax’s proudest moments as a K-9 came in 2014 when he assisted in the largest drug bust in Agawam’s history. On October 17, 2014, police seized 118 pounds of marijuana and $1.1 million in cash.
As a result of their dedication to that particular case, Krutka and Jax were awarded the 2014 Narcotic Detection Team of the Year by the Massachusetts Police Work Dog Association.
In May of 2017, the Southwick Police announced that Jax would retire at the age of 11-years-old after 10 years of service to the department and the community.
After he retired in May of 2017, Jax spent the rest of his life living with Krutka at his residence.
