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Died 1/31/20
Handler – Officer Sower
‘Fun-loving’ Ionia County Sheriff’s Office K-9 dies
Dinar’s death was “completely unexpected,” said Sower, who served as Dinar’s K-9 handler. Sower said the dog wasn’t feeling well on Monday, Jan. 27, and took him to Sterner Veterinary Clinic the next day. “I could tell he was not doing well,” Sower said. Veterinarians believe Dinar had a liver problem, Sower said. After Dinar’s health wasn’t improving, Sower told Sheriff Charlie Noll, Undersheriff Andrew Bucholtz and Lt. Jack Pieters on Jan. 30 that he would take Dinar in the next day to be put to sleep. Dinar would’ve turned 9 on Feb. 16. Sower started training with Dinar in October 2013 and hit the road with him in December of that year. Dinar lived and worked with Sower. Sower noted Dinar’s high intelligence when the sheriff’s office purchased him. “Right from the get-go, he knew what he was doing,” Sower said. “He was instantly an asset to the department.” Dinar was previously at another department when Ionia County purchased him, Sower said. Noll served as undersheriff at the time and remembers assisting in picking out Dinar from a local company. Noll quickly realized Dinar stood out in field training and believed his smaller size would be an asset to the department. “We thought that would be a benefit for us,” Noll said. “We really wanted to make sure he had the energy and the drive to do the work.” Sower remembers Dinar was instrumental in apprehending a suspect in a robbery at the Burger King in Belding in January 2015. Patrick O’Connell, of Belding, was sentenced to a 50-month to 15-year prison sentence for the robbery in June that year. “That was probably one of the funnest memories,” Sower said of working with his K-9. Dinar was trained for narcotics detection, tracking and trailing, article searches, suspect apprehension and handler protection, Sower said, calling him an “all purpose dog.” “He was just a good all around dog — happy and obedient,” Sower said. Dinar took 263 calls in six years for the Ionia County Sheriff’s Office. That doesn’t count Dinar’s community relations work. “The reason we got the dog was to find and apprehend criminals and suspects but we also outreach to the schools and community to provide an understanding of what a K-9 does in law enforcement,” Noll said. Sower said he’d take Dinar to speak to health classes at Belding Middle School each year. He brought Dinar in to conduct obedience work and find drugs, while the students would throw a ball to him. “It was fun to see the kids’ faces light up when the dog would come into the room,” Sower said. Finding narcotics felt like a game for Dinar, Sower said. Sower would do obedience work with his K-9 in the yard at home. “He was very high strung and he just wanted to have fun and play,” Sower said. “He didn’t know how to stop.” Dinar served as the department’s replacement for its former K-9, Kramer, who died in January 2014. Kramer was semi-retired when Dinar came in and the department was able to plan ahead, Noll said. “Due to this sudden outcome, we weren’t able to plan like we did in previous years,” Noll said. Noll said the sheriff’s office wants to continue the K-9 program but needs to work through funding. Dinar cost roughly $10,000 including training. Noll said he would like to have something in place by October but said “it’s going to take some time.” “We just lost a valuable tool — a valuable member — of this agency that we’ve had for quite a few years,” Noll said. Noll said the department could contact other agencies to request a K-9 if one is needed. As the department navigates the time without a K-9 Sower said he will miss his “awesome” dog and partner. “Fun-loving, hard-working, motivated and dedicated,” Sower said. “That pretty much sums him up.”
