CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — Today, the Chillicothe Police Department (CPD) officially retired the K9 known as “Tobi” at the age of 8 years old. Tobi served in the K9 unit for six years under the supervision of Officer Chris King.
Tobi was born in September 2014, in Hungary and graduated from the Ohio State Highway Patrol Dual Purpose Patrol/Narcotics Detector Dog Handler’s Course in the spring of 2016. While there he received his state certification for obedience, tracking, area and building search, evidence search, criminal apprehension, and narcotic detection.
K9 Tobi was purchased for CPD by Little Blessings, Inc, a foundation run by volunteers who seek to help the community under their motto: “One little blessing at a time.” After purchasing Tobi for the department, the group’s support continued. In 2017, Tobi and King were presented with K9 safety vests and trading cards by Little Blessings. When asked about their relationship with the not-for-profit, Captain Michael Short of CPD, stated, “We like to work with our community partners. We have several community partners that we work with, and Little Blessings is one of them.”
During the retirement ceremony, which took place at the Catherine and Holden Corzine Memorial Dog Park on Tuesday, many people came forward to speak about Tobi and his service to the community.
“Over Tobi’s career, he’s had numerous interdictions of drugs, numerous people, evidence, and he’s done lots of great things for the City of Chillicothe,” stated Captain Short, which was then followed by applause for the K9. Chief of Police Ron Meyers then followed in this sentiment, stating, “We certainly appreciate Officer Tobi’s dedication to the community.”
Tobi was presented with a plaque for his years of service, recognizing his retirement, along with treats and toys from a local pet store.
When asked about their partnership, Officer King had much to say about Tobi.
“It’s been the best time of my career.”
King expressed that he always wanted to be a K9 officer, and when he was able to obtain that position it was, “The best thing ever.” He went on to explain the bittersweet feeling of retiring Tobi.
“I’m happy for him, but in the same sense, I’m sad because my buddy’s not going to be coming to work with me anymore.”
King showed his pride for Tobi by sharing his best drug bust during his time on the force when they discovered 13 pounds of marijuana which were shipped through the postal service disguised as Christmas gifts and coated in scents that would normally throw off a trained police K9. Over the years of service, the department recognized that Tobi was becoming physically strained and determined it was time for his retirement. Tobi’s retirement home will be at Officer King’s small farm where they have various farm animals and four other dogs.
In closing, King stated, “It’s been the best time of my life.”
