Animal Welfare Professionals

I've been asked if I can help our police department in securing placement for a working dog that is being retired. The following is the message I received from the police department:

K9 Ryan is retiring from GPD on 2/11/26.  Ryan has been out-of-service since last July following TPLO and meniscus surgery from a CCL tear. Unfortunately, Ryan continues to battle arthritis and ongoing lameness in his right knee as he has never fully recovered from the surgery.  Ryan also suffers from Addison's disease.

Ryan's police partner is not taking custody of Ryan post-retirement.  GPD has been trying different strategies to find Ryan a facility where he can be taken care of medically or another option where Ryan can be cared for by someone who can handle a working Belgian.  Ryan may be physically lame but mentally he's ready to work, unfortunately, which leads me to be cautious about who handles Ryan. He can be a lot to handle and still has a high drive and aggression.

We have already reached out to multiple prior K9 handlers and trainers and police/military K9 vendors including Project K9 Hero and Paws of Honor. We are still waiting to hear back from Project K9 Hero regarding taking custody of Ryan at their facility in TN.

We were wondering if you might be aware of any other organization that looks to home prior law enforcement dogs who have on-going medical issues.

Let me know if you have any other suggestions for me to pass along to the GPD.

Thanks,

Chris

#FieldServicesandPublicSafety*
#Rehoming
#TransfersandTransport

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Chris Fitzgerald
Director of Animal Services
Town of Greece, NY - Animal Services
Rochester NY
cfitzgerald@greeceny.gov
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Unsure if it is a resource issue for the K9 handler, but it may be worth reaching out to the Retired Police Canine Foundation for ideas as well.

I've reached out to another placement specialist for a national nonprofit to see if they have any ideas. Are they looking for private adoption options, or only for foundations to take him in?

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Rachel Ide
Animal Services Director
Young-Williams Animal Center
TN
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Original Message:
Sent: 01-20-2026 11:57 AM
From: Chris Fitzgerald
Subject: Placement of working dogs

I've been asked if I can help our police department in securing placement for a working dog that is being retired. The following is the message I received from the police department:

K9 Ryan is retiring from GPD on 2/11/26.  Ryan has been out-of-service since last July following TPLO and meniscus surgery from a CCL tear. Unfortunately, Ryan continues to battle arthritis and ongoing lameness in his right knee as he has never fully recovered from the surgery.  Ryan also suffers from Addison's disease.

Ryan's police partner is not taking custody of Ryan post-retirement.  GPD has been trying different strategies to find Ryan a facility where he can be taken care of medically or another option where Ryan can be cared for by someone who can handle a working Belgian.  Ryan may be physically lame but mentally he's ready to work, unfortunately, which leads me to be cautious about who handles Ryan. He can be a lot to handle and still has a high drive and aggression.

We have already reached out to multiple prior K9 handlers and trainers and police/military K9 vendors including Project K9 Hero and Paws of Honor. We are still waiting to hear back from Project K9 Hero regarding taking custody of Ryan at their facility in TN.

We were wondering if you might be aware of any other organization that looks to home prior law enforcement dogs who have on-going medical issues.

Let me know if you have any other suggestions for me to pass along to the GPD.

Thanks,

Chris

#FieldServicesandPublicSafety*
#Rehoming
#TransfersandTransport

------------------------------
Chris Fitzgerald
Director of Animal Services
Town of Greece, NY - Animal Services
Rochester NY
cfitzgerald@greeceny.gov
------------------------------