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Handler – Officer Darron Granger
The Anderson Police Department has been a bit quieter this week – at least – it’s been a bit quieter in the back of Officer Darron Granger’s police cruiser. “They really do become your friend and so this past week at work patrolling without him has been…there’s nobody to talk to,” Granger said. “It’s been lonely. A lot of pet owners understand, if you have ever had a pet, it becomes part of your family.” Granger lost his K-9 partner Truman last week, the six-year old Belgian Malinois had to be euthanized after complications from cancer. Granger said he had become lethargic and lost close to 20 pounds since June. “It was kind of hard. It’s just like in people, it eats away at you,” Granger said. Truman’s death marks the third police dog the department has lost in the past three years. Two others, Kilo and Magnum, were both killed two months apart in 2012 while trying to apprehend suspects. The department still has three, but would like to replace Truman and bring the department’s total back to four, Granger said. The trouble is, other dogs aren’t like Truman. Granger said most of the other police dogs are bred in Europe and can cost upwards of $12,000, Granger said. The department’s operating budget for the K9 unit is closer to $3,500. Truman stood out, Granger says, because was born and trained in Indiana. Granger called him a “dog that was trained to do police work,” not a “police dog” and touted the Truman’s uncanny ability to be both friendly to suspects and vicious when commanded. “He was a pretty good partner to have,” Granger said referring to Truman. “You are with them more than you are with your family. You work 40 hours a week and you take them home too.” While Kilo and Magnum have been memorialized in the front lobby of the police department, it’s unlikely Truman will receive the same tribute because he did not die in the line of duty. Granger says he’s not bothered by it, and decided to bury Truman under his favorite pine tree at his home next to where his first police dog, Armand, is buried. “That’s where they liked to lay down and that’s where they are going to lay at,” Granger said, staring at the Truman’s still fresh burial plot. “Time heals everything.” The department is planning a golf outing in late September in hopes of raising funds to buy a replacement police dog.
