The City Council approved a retirement at its Thursday, March 13, meeting. But this retiree is different from other city staff members. Bady is a six-year-old Belgian Malinois.
His partner, Sergeant Guffey, told the council that Bady had a degenerate lower disk that caused him to drag a leg at times and appear to be in pain.
Lieutenant Justin Waldon introduced Bady to the Council. “On Aug. 10, 2020, K9 Bady was employed by the Harrison Police Department with handler Sergeant Guffy. After almost five years of service, K9 Bady will retire on March 20, 2025, with the permission of the Mayor and Council.”
Waldon requested that Bady be given to his handler for the remainder of his life. “On the day of retirement, Guffy will take on all the responsibilities of caring for K9 Bady.”
Mayor Jackson said, “This is pretty normal and what we’ve done in the past.”
Guffy said, “Bady is only six years old, and that’s young. His retirement is due to a medical condition we found a few years ago. We could only go about half a mile during training, and he would start dragging his back leg. A specialist discovered he has a lower bulge on his back disk and compression. So, he’s been on medication for the last two years. It is degenerative and will only get worse. So now is the right time to allow him to retire.”
The Sergeant’s family already loves Bady, and he’s very partial to Guffy’s wife and their two German Shepherds.
Assistant Chief John Cagle said, “We don’t have plans right now to replace Bady. We have two other K9s, one on the day shift and the other on the night shift. To purchase a K9 is about $15,000. There are grants available to purchase a dog, but we don’t plan to pursue that now.”