SOUTHWICK – The Southwick Police Department announced on Wednesday that retired K-9, Jax, had passed away at the age of 12-years-old on Tuesday, due to a short illness.
Jax started his K-9 career with the Southwick Police Department in May 2007. During his career in the K-9 unit, Jax worked alongside his handler, officer Tom Krutka.
Throughout their time together, Jax was successful on numerous occasions on finding lost children, wanted suspects, drug searches, and other situations.
“Jax quickly earned the reputation amongst the police world as having an amazing nose in both narcotics and tracking human scent,” said Krutka.
After retiring in May of 2017, Jax lived the rest of his life with Krutka. (Photo from Tom Krutka)
Early into Jax’s career, Krutka remembers the trainer for the K-9 program informing him that Jax is unique and a dog that police departments only come across every 10 to 15 years.
“He picked up on everything he was taught, just about the very first time,” said Krutka.
One of Jax’s proudest moments as a K-9 dog 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.
Along with police officers from several departments and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents, Krutka and Jax helped with a search warrant at a specific location in Agawam.
As Krutka brought Jax to an area of about 100 storage units, the K-9 was able to find the exact unit that contained the drugs.
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 retired at the age of 11-years-old after 10 years of service to the department and the community.
Southwick Police Chief Kevin Bishop expressed his thoughts on Jax’s passing on the department’s social media page.
“I now ask all of you to say a prayer and keep Sgt. Krutka in your thoughts while he suffers through this great loss, may your kind words and thoughts help Tom (Krutka) in this very difficult time,” said Bishop. “Jax was more than just a dog, he was Family.”
After he retired in May of 2017, Jax spent the rest of his life living with Krutka at his residence. Krutka pointed out that his former work partner was far different as his family pet.
“At home, he was the biggest baby, I can’t imagine him not being around,” said Krutka. “I will always cherish our time together.”
