Related Articles
Beckley Police Department says goodbye to Artie the Bloodhound
9/4/15
West Virginia
Artie was a good dog. She never hurt a soul and she always did a good job, Beckley Police said. That made it even harder for her partner to say goodbye. “She passed away Friday night at the vet,” Cpl. J.W. Legursky said. “I was with her. It makes me feel a bit better to know that I was with her and that she knew I was with her. She didn’t die alone.” It might sound strange to think that a police dog never hurt anyone, but Artie was not a normal police dog. She was a bloodhound and they’re more known for their floppy ears than their sharp teeth. “Artie was chill,” Cpl. Legursky said. “You could take her into classrooms. She was harmless. “She wasn’t trained to apprehend or bite or anything like that. By nature, those dogs are laid-back.” Artie was often called on to track down missing people and bad guys, Cpl. Legursky said. “The thing about tracking is that it’s the least likely case to get a hit,” he said. “You’re tracking what isn’t there. Drugs are usually there and a bad guy is usually there when you send a dog to bite. With Artie, she tracked something that was invisible. You’re almost set up to fail. “That just makes our record more special. We found probably four or five people. We probably had seven or eight after-the-fact finds. Those would be when places get robbed and Artie would have led us to a house or a car that was used in the robbery.” Cpl. Legursky said he and Artie were never called to track missing children. Mostly because children didn’t go missing, he said. “I’m thankful for that,” he said. “The majority of our finds were missing Alzheimer’s patients.” It was a hard loss, but Cpl. Legursky said he’ll get back into the K-9 world if it’s offered to him. “Tears were shed for sure,” he said. “Artie was a member of the family. She’s not just a pet. She was a partner. It’s still a bit of an empty household for us. “To get another dog would have to be a family decision. I’d gladly do it, but I’d have to talk about it with my wife. I feel like this is what I was called on to do, though. Some people do traffic, but I love K-9 work.” Officials in the Beckley Police Department say it will be hard to fill the role that Artie had. “This happened so suddenly that we don’t have a plan,” Deputy Chief Jeff McPeake said. “I hate to say that, but we never expected this to happen. “Dogs die, but they’re part of us. They’ve earned their stripes and they’re a police officer. You can never truly replace them. Sure, we can get another dog, but it’s just not the same. We’ll always remember Artie for the good she did.” McPeake said Artie was a great dog to take to events. “She was one of the few police dogs that kids were able to pet,” he said. “A kid wants to pet every dog they see. Most police dogs are trained to be intimidating, but bloodhounds are different. “Those you can encourage kids to hug on them and pet on them. That’s really what we’ll miss. We’ll try to and find another dog like Artie, but we can’t replace Artie.” Cpl. Legursky is the School Resource Officer at Park Middle School. He used to bring Artie into classrooms and everything else, McPeake said. “The kids were as attached to that dog as Cpl. Legursky was,” he said. “They see that dog and there’s some trauma there that has to be considered.” To help the kids and the community to cope with the loss of Artie, a donation drive is being put together in her name. Officials at Park Middle School and the Beckley Police Department are raising money and supplies for the Raleigh County Humane Society. “We wanted something that the community could get involved in with the school and the police department,” McPeake said. “We want to celebrate Artie’s life.” Even in passing, Artie continues to give back to the community, Legursky said. “This gives people the chance to say ‘Artie touched my life so I want to give back to her memory,” he said. “I’m glad they’re putting this together.” Artie was laid to rest at the Beckley Police Department Training Range, which police say is “a sacred place” to officers. If you would like to donate to the Artie Fund, you can drop off pet supplies or money at Park Middle School or at the Beckley Police Department.
