On July 1st around midnight, Officer Hale (K9 Duke) was working off duty, while Duke got to stay home and be with his family. Officer Hale’s wife called him and told him that something was wrong with Duke. Duke’s “Mom” explained that he was trying to throw up, but couldn’t and he was lethargic. When she touched his stomach, it was descended and hard. Officer Hale came home and took K9 Duke to an emergency vet clinic.

The doctors diagnosed K9 Duke with “Bloat.” This serious condition required a surgeon to be called in to perform emergency surgery. K9 Duke had his spleen removed and his stomach stapled to his body wall. After his hospital stay of four days, he is expected to make a full recovery. But, he is “grounded” from K9 work and playing with his brothers and sister for four weeks. Officer Hale will have his hands full trying to keep K9 Duke from working and playing, to ensure a speedy recovery.

This was an unexpected medical emergency that scared Officer Hale and the rest of our blue family. K9 Duke is expected to be back to his rambunctious self and on patrol with his Dad, we still have substantial accrued costs from his surgery.

A little about GDV: It’s called “bloat” or Gastric dilatation-volvulus. This happens suddenly and without warning, when the dog’s stomach fills with gas, fluid, or food and then twists. This diagnoses progresses quickly, and it cuts off blood circulation to the stomach, and will be fatal if not immediately treated. We are thankful for Duke’s Mom, and her recognizing Duke’s distress.

All dogs can get “bloat,” but deep-chested dogs are more susceptible. We want to make sure Judge, Kali, Luna, and Zeke don’t have to go through what K9 Duke did. The surgery for all five K9s to treat and prevent GDV will cost $15,000.00 - $25,000.00 dependent on the severity of the surgery.

Our K9s are not just an asset to patrol, they are our partners, family, and companion. We only want the best for Judge, Duke, Kali, Luna, and Zeke, and this is one way we can assure they have a long life as our Officer’s partners.

If you believe in our K9 Unit and their community outreach, let’s make sure they are as healthy as possible! Please donate to our GoFundMe!

About our K9 Unit: The Altoona Police Department (Iowa) has five K9s. Our K9 Unit is unique that our Handlers buy their own Belgian Milionis 8-week-old puppy. Altoona Captain Todd Trobaugh (K9 Judge) is a Master Police Dog Trainer through the USPCA and begins to train the dogs as a puppy with their Handlers. K9 Judge is a 4-year-old Belgian Milionis from the Netherlands. Judge is the Uncle to our 4 K9 dogs, all from the same litter, Duke, Kali, Luna, and Zeke.

Most agencies pay upwards of $20,000 for a K9. Our K9 Unit startup cost our City ZERO dollars. Our Officers volunteered and dedicated their time to train their K9s to become certified through the United States Police Canine Association, at which time they became the Officers fulltime patrol partner and have their own budget. However, this medical emergency was unforeseen for K9 Duke, and is preventable for his brothers and sisters. Our K9s are not only a tool for patrol, but they are part of our community.