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Handler – Cpl. Brandon Townley
Gwinnett County Police Department K-9 Eros dies less than a year after retirement
Less than a year after he was retired from the Gwinnett County Police Department, K9 Eros has died. The department announced Eros’ death in a Wednesday afternoon tweet, saying the K-9 “will be greatly missed by his family.” Eros was retired last June after serving Gwinnett police for five years. His handler, Cpl. Brandon Townley, began working with the K-9 in August 2013. “He has served the Gwinnett County Police Department and our community with honor,” Gwinnett Police Chief A.A. “Butch” Ayers told the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners last year, when requesting Eros’ retirement. According to Ayers, Eros saw his fair share of action in the five years he worked for the department, having been deployed 329 times for drug searches, suspect apprehension and other tasks. His record included 23 patrol apprehensions, 35 narcotics apprehensions, the recovery of about nine pounds of marijuana and methamphetamine and locating 17 items that had evidentiary value, Ayers said. In total, Eros worked more than 7,500 hours serving the community. According to a letter from the Gwinnett Animal Clinic that was presented to commissioners last year, Eros was nearly nine years old. Veterinarian J.W. Wallis said in the letter to police department officials that Eros’ health issues would create issues for himself and human police officers if he continued to serve as a K-9 officer. Wallis said Eros has intermittently exhibited rear limb lameness for two years and a “marked loss” of stamina has been noted. “It is my opinion that the aforementioned issues are solid evidence that Eros has lost his effectiveness as a canine officer,” Wallis said last year. “To continue to utilize him could jeopardize his long term health and comfort, and could even conceivably jeopardize the safety of an officer.” Eros had spent his retirement at Townley’s home.
