Pocatello police show appreciation to local family for donation of new canine
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POCATELLO — At a small ceremony this week, Pocatello Police Chief Roger Schei and K9 Unit Corporal Akilah Lacey thanked Phillip and Bekki Meador’s family for a large donation that allowed the department to get a new dual-purpose dog.
Lacey’s former K9 partner, Bart, died unexpectedly in November.
“I truly miss Bart,” Lacey said, struggling to hold back tears. “Losing him really hurt. And I didn’t realize how important Bart was to the community until everybody reached out.”
Along with being a drug and apprehension dog, Bart also served as a demonstration dog, making trips to local schools and gatherings. Lacey spoke about Bart’s impact. He noted a letter he received from a high school senior, following Bart’s death, thanking the duo for lifting the child up at a time when he was at his lowest, having just suffered the loss of a family dog.
An autopsy following Bart’s death showed a genetically large heart as the cause, PPD spokesman Greg Cates told EastIdahoNews.com.
The Meador family donated $8,500 to the department earlier this year, allowing Lacey to pick his new partner — the 20-month-old Belgian Malinois.
“It was a hard choice between two dogs,” Lacey said. “But Thor was the winner, because he’s goofy, like his dad, and he’s got a big head, like Roger.”
Lacey thanked the Pocatello family for bringing Thor to him. Noting that Pocatello’s newest police canine will not only be assisting in arrests but also be involved in searching for drugs. His training though, will be limited to methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin.
“We’re not doing marijuana because he’s so young, he’ll turn two in August, we just don’t want to have that risk of it becoming legal and having to put your hard-earned money out of service quickly,” he told the family.
Eventually, he’ll also be trained as a demonstration dog.
Schei spoke to the department’s mission statement — ‘Community Commitment’ — saying that no family better embodies that idea better than the Meadors.
“It’s truly a blessing to have people like you in our community, willing to step up and help us out,” he said.
After addressing the loss of Bart, and the Meador family’s donation, Lacey spoke to the job ahead for him and Thor, saying that training has thus far gone great and that the two have already formed a connection.
“We’ll do the best we can to make sure that he gets ready to be a demo dog, like Bart was,” Lacey said. “I think something for law enforcement that is important right now, in this day and age, is for us to truly connect to the community. And if you don’t like dogs, you’re weird.”