Sgt. Peterson and Copper photo courtesy of Bagley Police Department
Sgt. Larry Peterson lost more than his K-9 “unit” when someone shot Copper last week and left his body lying along a country road. The Bagley, Minnesota, police officer also lost Sally, his other dog, who was shot and and her body left on the side of the road right next to Copper’s. Copper was a big dog who weighed about 70 to 75 pounds. Hi sister Sally was a civilian, also seven, a black Lab/basset hound cross he picked up from the local Humane Society.
Cooper served seven years as a police dog after he was rescued as a puppy from the city pound when the woman who found it wandering pleaded with Officer Peterson not to let the pound’s “five-day kill” policy take effect. In 2005, Peterson paid for Copper to train with Winnipeg police experts so he could serve as Bagley’s K-9 tracking “officer.” Actually Peterson paid for all of Copper’s expenses as there was no room in the very tight budget for a K-9 officer.
Copper was very good at his job. After one robbery and shooting in rural Bagley Copper found the robber in the nearby woods within minutes, as well as some of the shotgun shells the suspect stole after shooting one of the store owners in the leg. Copper was the one to find the key evidence that convicted the thief.
The bodies of Copper and Sally were found May 10 about five miles north of Peterson’s house, it is believed they were dumped there and killed somewhere else.
The dogs weren’t known for chasing livestock or deer — legal justifications for shooting stray dogs in that area— and Copper, in fact, was trained not to let such distractions take him from his duty, Peterson said. The last they were seen, the two dogs had gotten loose from his property and were a short distance south of his home on May 10.
The Sheriff’s Office has taken over the investigation but there are no suspects yet. “I’m not having anything to do with it,” Peterson said when asked why the police force wasn’t investigating. “I don’t want my personal feelings to get in the way.”
Both were said to have been very gentle dogs. So authorities believe they were easy targets for whoever shot them. Many people who knew Copper have commiserated with him and offered to help him find another dog. “All the lost people we looked for, the cases he played a part in, that was a bad way for him to go down,” Peterson said. “He didn’t deserve that.”
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Such a sad story. 🙁
So sad….there is nothing else to say, this just breaks my heart.
Such a sad, sad story. I hope they capture whoever is responsible. With this being National Police Week (see my blog post tomorrow for the Blogger Hop), a huge thank you goes out to Sgt. Peterson and Cooper. And may Cooper be happily patrolling the green pastures beyond the Rainbow Bridge.
Those dogs are so awesome. Such a touching story.
Whoa! strange.
Very sad story! Wonder if someone hated the officer and took it out on the dogs?
That just makes me so sad and mad at the same time. That’s just not right. I hope they find who did it!
~Maggie
This is horribly sad, sounds like these dogs were targeted, perhaps because one was a police dog! Hope they find the person responsible for this. Condolences to the Officer and his family.
aka @tildatoo