http://www.gmtoday.com/news/local_st...2232007_03.asp
Canine cop recovering
from kidney failure
Falko will be off-duty for up to 2 weeks
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By AL DUNN - GM Today Staff
February 23, 2007
Falko is shown in this photo outside the Jackson Police Department.
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JACKSON - The badge is hung up, the leash on its hook on the wall.
Falko, as they say in law enforcement circles, is "off the job."
The celebrated canine cop with the village police force is on the mend after a bout with acute kidney failure that included a stay at a Milwaukee animal emergency hospital, said Chief Jed Dolnick.
The 6-year-old German shepherd took ill on Sunday night and was taken to a local vet, but was moved to the Milwaukee hospital the next day after his condition deteriorated, Dolnick said.
With aggressive medication and IV intervention Falko was released Thursday night, but he may not be back on the job for a week or two, the chief said.
And he’ll be missed.
"Just last month he tracked down a suspect who fled from a state trooper into woods near Allenton, and he chased and ran down a guy who ran from a Jackson officer into a marsh," Dolnick said.
Falko was in the limelight last year after he suffered a bone chip in his leg and had to undergo surgery, a costly proposition.
News coverage of the situation came to the attention of two Milwaukee-area kids who travelled to the village and emptied their piggy banks - all of $11.07 - and donated it to help pay the vet bill.
That story in turn tugged at the heartstrings - and loosened the wallets - of a larger audience. The department was the beneficiary of more than $3,000 in cash donations.
A portion of that money was indeed used to pay for the operation, which was successful. The rest will be used to offset the cost of Falko’s current problem.
And that meter has already run up to more than $2,300, which does not include the vet’s bill for his initial treatment prior to the hospital stay, Dolnick said.
Still, Dolnick - and his fellow officers - will be glad to have their canine colleague back.
"Falko’s a good dog, and has been a tremendous asset. It looked very bad on Monday; thank goodness the illness was short-lived," he said.
This story appeared in the West Bend Daily News on February 23, 2007
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