Dog warden, others create memorial casket for fallen K-9 officers

FREMONT - When a retired police dog from the Sandusky County Sheriff's Office died last year, friends of his handler and the German shepherd wanted to have a special memorial for K-9 Brutus. While Brutus was escorted by other K-9 units and officers on his last trip, some felt he deserved more.

In 2011, K-9 officer Brutus joined the Sandusky County Sheriff Department and was partnered with Detective Sgt. Brian McGrady.

"His retirement was in 2018," the detective said about his former four-legged partner. In his retirement, Brutus, a German Shepherd, lived with the McGrady family in Sandusky County.

"He had some medical issues going on," McGrady said recently about the dog who had become a close part of the family — even being included in a family portrait with the detective's wife and children.

A little over a year ago, detective McGrady made a tough decision about Brutus, and it was to take him to the veterinarian and put the K-9 officer down. "We believe he had suffered a stroke," McGrady shared.

McGrady asked to use a K-9 vehicle for Brutus' last trip to the vet's office. Deputies, supporters and other K-9 officers assembled at the McGrady home to escort Brutus on his last trip to Fremont.

When Brutus died in October of 2021, it impacted his human family, officers and other friends. One of those people was Sandusky County Dog Warden Kelly Pocock.

"When I spoke to McGrady, I told him I felt compelled to do something to remember K-9 Brutus by," she noted. "At first, I had a lot of ideas. Then, I saw an article about a company making a customized casket for a K-9 that was killed in the line of duty. This was something we could do to not only honor K-9 Brutus, but we could use the casket during a Memorial Service for any K-9 in Sandusky County throughout the years."

The K-9 Memorial Casket became a year-long project, but Pocock said the casket is ready and being presented to area law enforcement officers for use.

McGrady said tentatively it will be stored at the sheriff's office.

Pocock said to accomplish her ultimate goal of creating a memorial casket, she first had to find a casket.

"I called the crematorium the kennel uses, to ask where I could even begin to look for a casket for a dog.  I spoke with Todd Parker, of Paws & Remember, and once he heard about what I wanted to do, he eagerly asked if he could donate a casket to this cause."

"My husband, Nathan Pocock, Sr., and I donated the money for the painting material," she said.

"I had a very specific idea for how the casket needed to be painted. I asked my stepson, who is amazingly talented at autobody painting, if this is something he could do. He looked everything over and gave me an estimate for the cost of the supplies, but quickly told me he would donate all the labor to get the painting part of the project completed."

Nathan Pocock, Jr. and his wife, Taylor, provided the custom paint job.

"It’s breathtaking," Kelly Pocock added.

But the memorial casket required a specialized interior so the dog warden began looking for a craftsman. "Mike Cox called me right away, very interested in donating his skills to our project," she noted. "Mike did an amazing job of designing the inside to meet the needs of how I wanted the casket to look, while displayed at a memorial.  He designed it perfectly to be able to display a portrait of the K-9, the urn and the K-9’s badge and harness."

The child-size memorial casket looked so nice that Pocock became afraid it would be scratched or damaged when moved around. "I called my brother, Ryan Askins, who works at Green Bay Packaging. He and Jeremy Velliquette got to work to create and donate a heavy-duty box to preserve the casket and keep it safe."

McGrady said having the memorial casket would make a big difference to a K-9 handler and his family as the dogs become a large part of their lives.

In Sandusky County there are eight K-9 officers — in four law enforcement departments. Fremont Police have two, the sheriff's office three, Woodville Police one, and Clyde Police has two dogs. "All the K-9s work together," McGrady added, noting departments outside Sandusky County also work together with their dogs.

"It's something that could be utilized in the police community," he said about the memorial casket.

The sheriff's detective said having a memorial casket could make losing a K-9 law enforcement dog easier for officers and their families in the future.

He said K-9 Brutus meant a lot to his three children and his wife. "It was a tough day for them," he said about the last day they spent with Brutus.

Kelly Pocock added she knows no one wanted to say goodbye to their partner and she has seen behind the scenes the daily work and commitment the dogs and their handlers have.

"Our K-9 handlers literally put their lives in their partners' hands and that’s a different, much deeper kind of bond.  I just simply wanted to do something to honor them for their love, loyalty and dedication," she said about creating the memorial casket in memory of Brutus.

rbrooks@gannett.com

419-334-1059

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Pocock, others put best paw forward to remember four-legged friends