Vancouver Police Department K-9 Enzo wrapped up his nearly 5½ years as a police dog last Wednesday, retiring to the life of a household pet with his handler and his family.
Enzo went into service Oct. 24, 2012, with his handler, Officer Brian Viles.
Enzo, a German shepherd, was purchased thanks to a donation from the then-Westfield Vancouver mall to the department’s K-9 fund, which accepts donations to buy the dogs and cover equipment and other costs for the unit.
Enzo was 2 years old when he started.
Over his career, Enzo tallied 662 total deployments to find suspects, with 149 total captures, according to the police department.
He also performed 159 drug searches, 35 evidence searches, 79 SWAT deployments and 81 public demonstrations.
In retirement, Enzo will continue living with Viles and his family. As is tradition, Viles paid the city $1 for Enzo.
Enzo seems to be taking to the retired life pretty well so far, Viles said.
“He’s enjoying a little more free time at home, which is good,” he said. “He’s adapted really well with the family already.”
Now, Viles said, they try to get Enzo out and about daily, since working dogs like to work.
Viles said the retirement is for medical reasons. The family, Enzo and his vet are trying to manage the dog’s degenerative myelopathy, which is a spinal cord disease seen in older dogs.
Viles started with the department in 2003 as an entry-level officer. He’s been with the K-9 unit since 2007, and Enzo was his third partner. He worked with dog partners Swift and Leonidas, a.k.a. Leo, beforehand. Both also retired.
Swift also lived with the family after his retirement, Viles said. Leo went to another officer’s home.
The department said it plans on selecting new handlers and dogs to fill vacancies in the unit.
Viles said he plans on helping train any new K-9 teams but intends to step away from the K-9 unit for a while.
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Correction: A photo of the wrong police dog originally ran with this post, and has been removed. Vancouver Police Department K-9 Ivar is still working, and is still a good dog, even though he’s not Enzo.
