Related Articles
Died – 3/6/21
1st Handler – Officer Ron Knox
2nd Handler – Chief Justin Craig
Greenville Police Department to honor service of beloved police dog
The Greenville Police Department is mourning the loss of a K-9 officer known for his hard work in the community and affectionate personality. K-9 Officer Rony, a 9-year-old German Shepherd, died Saturday, and the police department is planning to honor his service with a procession and final call service on Sunday, March 14. Greenville Police Chief Justin Craig, who has been Rony’s handler since October 2019, said the dog was a “pillar” of the department’s K-9 program, which launched when Rony came to the Greenville Police Department in 2019. “His passing has rocked this whole department,” Craig said.Rony served the community for eight years, and he started his career in 2014 with the Clark County Sheriff’s Department. During that time, he served with Clark County Metro SWAT, and he was the first K-9 officer for the Southeast Regional SWAT team. Greenville Police Officer Ron Knox was Rony’s owner and original handler for the Clark County Sheriff’s Department, and they worked together until 2018. Knox has been working with Greenville Police Department since early 2019. Knox and his wife drove up to Pennsylvania in 2014 to get Rony, who then went through training to become certified in narcotics and SWAT. Rony was the best dog Knox ever trained, he said, and although he was a police dog instead of a family dog, he was also beloved by family members and others in the community. He and Rony often went horseback riding together, and the K-9 was popular with kids when he visited local schools. In 2015, Rony received national attention when he comforted a terminally ill child by laying in the hospital bed with the child, Knox said. “He was a gentle dog — he loved kids, but he also loved his job,” he said. “He knew what to do and would do it.” Rony was always excited to get to work, Craig said. “I’ve never personally seen a dog with that drive and just the will to want to work,” Craig said. “When we would load up and get ready to go on patrol, he’d literally run up to the police car and stand by the door waiting — you’d see him pacing, looking at you. He was like, ‘let me in.’” Craig describes Rony as “caring, loving” dog. “You would see him jump half up in someone’s lap licking their face — he just loved showing affection,” he said. “He was a very affectionate dog who loved being petted.” He “can’t even put into words” how much it means to honor Rony with Saturday’s procession and final call, he said. “He wasn’t just the police dog — he was part of all our families,” Craig said. “He will be deeply missed.” Greenville Police Officer Levi Berry was involved with the creation of the K-9 division at the Greenville Police Department. The community loved Rony for his lovable nature, he said. “For a dog that’s capable of clearing a house to also be capable of rolling over to let a little kid rub his belly is a really special thing that you don’t always see very often,’ he said. Cliff Lindsey, master trainer with the International Police Work Dog Association, was involved with the training of Rony, who was known “all over Southern Indiana,” he said.“He was a SWAT dog, a police dog and a family dog,” he said. “He was a really good dog, and I can’t say enough about him.”More Information. The police escort and final call for K-9 Rony is taking place Sunday, March 14. The escort will be coming from Louisville into Indiana via the East End Bridge on I-265 before continuing westbound on I-265. Participating units are asked to begin staging around 1 p.m., and K-9 Rony will enter Indiana around 2 p.m. Staging should be complete at 1:45 p.m. The procession will then proceed to Highland Hills Middle School at 3429 Edwardsville-Galena Road in Georgetown for a short service and final call. After the final call at approximately 3:30 p.m., the procession will leave Highland Hills and ride back to Greenville. The route will go from Edwardsville-Galena to Old Vincennes, then to U.S. 150 in Greenville. The procession will be complete at U.S. 150 at Georgetown-Galena Road. The public is invited to attend the service at Highland Hill and/or observe the procession from the middle school to Greenville. K-9 Rony died after a spontaneous medical emergency, and Knox, Craig and Berry were with him in the veterinary hospital as he passed. Knox said he appreciates the Greenville police officers organizing the procession and final call for Rony, and he predicts that many people will show up to honor the beloved K-9. “He was an officer, so it’s kind of hard to ignore that fact,” Knox said. “A lot of people say, ‘why don’t you just bury the dog and get it over with,’ but he was an officer, and it’s an honorable thing.”
