Police dog faces an uncertain future after diagnosis

Susan Schell

of the Gateway

Lito the German Shepherd had a bright future ahead of him. Ever since he was a puppy, he was groomed to join Gig Harbor’s finest in the ranks of the police force.

As one of three puppies hand-selected for the program by Officer Chet Dennis, Lito was enjoying his carefree puppy days with his “foster parents,” Gregg, Margo and Kee May. The Mays had agreed to raise the puppy in their home until he was old enough to attend police school.

But events took a turn for the worse when Lito developed Osteochondritis Dessicans (OCD) in his left shoulder, a condition that, if not treated through surgery, causes lameness in dogs.

“One morning he got up and could barely walk,” Gregg May said. “He was limping and whimpering, and in a lot of pain. At that point, he was basically a three-legged dog.”

May said he noticed Lito was slightly limping a week before, but attributed it to puppy clumsiness. Other than that, there was no precipitating event. It came on rather suddenly.

A trip to Purdy Veterinary Hospital, which had been treating Lito and the other police dogs in the program, revealed the bad news — x-rays showed Lito had an OCD lesion in his front leg and shoulder.

OCD is a condition of abnormal cartilage growth that usually occurs in large, rapidly growing breeds like German Shepherds, Rottweilers and Labrador Retrievers. If the cartilage is not surgically removed, the dog eventually will become lame.

“The condition is very painful for dogs,” May said. “It doesn’t go away on its own. We’ve got him on pain medication now, but we decided to go ahead with the surgery.”

And the surgery is not cheap. The cost is estimated at $1,200 to $2,000 and the Mays have started an emergency fund to raise donations to cover the procedure.

They originally planned to hold out until the funds were in place, but they couldn’t bear to watch the dog suffer. Plus, if the condition is left untreated, the chance of permanent damage to the animal increases.

Lito is slated to undergo surgery on Nov. 17. The operation will be performed at Purdy by a “traveling” vet who is a specialist in the procedure.

“This is an out-of-the-ordinary type of procedure,” May said. “We felt that bringing in a specialist was the best option for this surgery.”

The police dog training program is an offshoot of the Jaycox Gig Harbor Police Benevolent Fund, named after Lillian Jaycox, a long-time resident who left the Gig Harbor Police Department $10,000 when she passed away.

The police department created an endowment with the money to support young adults interested in pursuing a college degree in criminal justice or a related field.

The K-9 Foster Parent program was created by Dennis as a means to supply quality police dogs to the community. The dogs are all named after police officers who have fallen in the line of duty.

“It’s kind of a puppy-raiser program,” Dennis said. “The idea is to hopefully raise three or four police dogs from puppies to young adults. At that point, we’d keep one dog for our department and sell the rest to other police departments. The money that is generated from the sale of those dogs goes to the Jaycox Fund.”

The Jaycox Fund also hosts other benefits, such as the “Holiday Helpers,” which offers children in need a shopping trip for Christmas-type items.

“The whole program has been run on donations and contributions,” Dennis said. “It’s unfortunate that Lito has this injury and it’s something that really needs to be operated on. This surgery requires a pretty good chunk of money, and we just don’t have these kind of funds set aside. The Purdy vets have been absolutely phenomenal, and the Mays have done a terrific job with Lito. But we’re hoping some donations will come from the community to offset the cost of the surgery.”

“Chet has spent an enormous amount of time and energy on this program,” Gregg May said. “We’re in contact with him daily. This whole thing was unexpected and unfortunate.”

This is the first year for the K-9 Foster Parent project.

“I think, with any canine program, you’ll have a certain amount of obstacles,” Dennis said. “To get them through any service dog training program is a lot of work.”

May said the family is not looking beyond the surgery at this point. Lito was named after Seattle Police Officer Joselito Barber, who lost his life Aug. 13, 2006.

“We’re committed to Lito continuing in some line of service work,” May said. “We’re committed to the Barber family and their son through this dog that was named after him.”

To make a donation

Donations may be mailed to: Jaycox Gig Harbor Police Benevolent Fund, 3510 Grandview St., Gig Harbor, WA 98335, or by contacting the May family at 253-265-3356.

Reach Lifestyles Coordinator and reporter Susan Schell at 253-853-9240 or by e-mail at susan.schell