The first K-9 member of the Grantsville City Police Department was laid to rest with full honors Tuesday afternoon.
Zoro, a 14-year-old Belgian malinois, joined the city’s police department in 2011 and became Sgt. Mike Jones’ partner. Due to deteriorating health, Zoro was euthanized Monday night.
When Jones approached Grantsville City Police Chief Kevin Turner about the city helping pay to cremate Zoro, Turner decided the department owed one of its own a better sendoff.
“He’s a family member to Sgt. Jones, but he’s an officer and he gave a lot of years of service,” Turner said. “To lay him to rest with honor is something we should do for him and for us.”
Grantsville City police officers led a procession from City Hall to the West Jordan Animal Shelter. Jones carried Zoro past officers from various police departments, whom saluted the city’s first K-9, to the shelter where he was cremated.
Jones said he started working with Zoro right at the beginning of his own career with Grantsville and the pair completed numerous criminal apprehensions and narcotic seizures together. Zoro wasn’t simply a dog; he was Jones’ partner for four years.
“You know, you get really attached to them,” Jones said. “I probably spend more time with my dogs then I do with my family. I spend 12 hours a day with them on shift; we’re in training all the time … just a real good friend.”
Zoro passed SWAT training with the department and competed in various K-9 competitions in the state. Despite working in a department with 13 sworn officers, Zoro was sometimes the only K-9 in the entire county and would be called to assist other agencies when needed.
“Even though there wasn’t a lot of action necessarily here, he was utilized a lot,” Turner said.
There were numerous situations were Zoro made the difference in a potentially dangerous or violent situation ending peacefully, Jones said.
“He’s defused so many situations just by his mere presence,” he said. “Just having him bark has made situations that could have gone bad end really well.”
Zoro also benefited the department’s community outreach efforts, making demonstrations at the city’s schools and at National Night Out celebrations. He also completed numerous drug sweeps at the middle school and high school, both for training and to occasionally detect illegal activity.
“A lot of the kids, especially in our DARE classes, knew Zoro and would pet him and play with him and then watch him in a demonstration,” Turner said.
Turner had effusive praise for Zoro, who had a successful career as a K-9 with West Valley City before his four years of duty in Grantsville. He said Zoro was a full-fledged officer, with his own badge and vest who accepted every assignment given to him.
“To serve the community like that, fearlessly with courage, running into harm’s way many times, his only reward was a hamburger or a hot dog here and there,” Turner said. “I think it’s very fitting that we give him a warrior’s sendoff.”
An emotional Jones said he was surprised by the outpouring of support from the police department for Zoro, who served about a decade in law enforcement.
After nearly a full lifetime of proud service, Jones said he wanted Zoro to have the opportunity to pass before his health further deteriorated.
“It was a hard decision. Zoro was still up and walking around but all the muscles in his back legs had atrophied,” Jones said. “It was really hard, if he fell down I had to help him up and stuff like that. I wanted him to pass with some dignity.”
The Grantsville City Police Department received a second police dog in 2014, a 6-year-old Belgian malinois named Kaos. Zoro was in semi-retirement at that point but still responded to SWAT calls due to his specialized training.
Kaos came from the Heber City Police Department after the K-9 program there was eliminated. Jones and Kaos earned a number of awards at last year’s Utah Peace Officer Association K-9 Trials in Naples, including first in vehicle narcotic detection and second in criminal apprehension.