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Died 1/18/21
Handler – Officer Darvin Anderson
‘Being afraid was never in his DNA’ — Brockton police dog Ube dies at just 3 1/2
Brockton police, law enforcement and dog units from around the state gathered Friday to say a final goodbye to Ube, a member of the department’s K9 unit. Ube the shepard mix was 3 1/2 years old and died this week after getting sick. “It’s a sad day,” said Officer Darvin Anderson, who was partnered with Ube for two years. “We get these dogs and we know they’re not going to live forever. To have a dog for two years is a very short time. It was unexpected.”Police dogs usually work until around eight or nine years old before retiring and living with their handlers, he said. On Friday, Anderson attended Ube’s funeral at Angel View Pet Cemetery in Middleboro. He had sent Ube to a kennel for a few days while he took his son to college in Florida. Then Anderson received a call saying that the dog was lethargic and refused to eat or drink. Brockton police’s other dog handlers, Officers John Sturdivant and Jonathan Correia, and Sgt. Robert DiLiddo, who runs the K-9 program, accompanied Anderson’s sons Darvin Jr. and John to be with Ube at the kennel. Ube was taken to an animal hospital. A veterinarian ran tests and found that the dog had an abnormal kidney that was failing. Ube’s blood count was also down. The veterinarian tried a blood transfusion, but it did not work. Ube was put down Monday. Anderson wishes he could have been there when Ube became ill. The dog’s symptoms were sudden and there was no warning of illness, he said. “I wanted to get home before we could put him down, but he was really in a bad way,” Anderson said. “The humane thing to do… was to take him out of his pain.” Ube and Anderson went on patrol together and worked 4 p.m. to midnight. He said Ube was a great working dog who was always ready for action. “Being afraid was never in his DNA,” Anderson said. He has handled police dogs for more than 20 years and has worked with three dogs including Ube for Brockton police. When not on the job, Ube lived with Anderson and his family. Ube loved Anderson’s wife and sons but wasn’t the most approachable in public. Anderson said he was focused on work. He remembers how high energy Ube was when they first brought him home. Anderson said it was like watching a little kid and making sure he didn’t bite the couch. As Ube got older, he was getting better about sitting still around the house. “We have a saying for police dogs, ‘Don’t remember your dog on their first day, but their last day’,” Anderson said.
