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Died 10/22/19
Handler – Officer Jay Durgin
Kittery’s popular K9 Emma has died
A German shepherd that sniffed for narcotics, delighted seniors and comforted school children, police K-9 Emma died Tuesday at age 15, said Emma’s police partner, officer Jay Durgin. A third-generation Kittery resident, raising a family in the house he grew up in, Durgin serves as the town’s school resource officer so, he said, Emma was known to many Kittery students and graduates. He recalled he and Emma trained for narcotics investigations at the Working Dog Foundation, first in Strafford, then at the Pease International Tradeport campus. As a team, Durgin said, they were involved in many drug investigations and busts with York and Kittery police, the federal Drug Enforcement Agency and Maine State Police. Durgin had a kennel for Emma in his office at Traip Academy, where he graduated. The police K-9 was older than his 10- and 12-year-old daughters, so she was always in their lives. He said he brought her regularly to the Kittery Estates home for elderly residents and “they loved it.” “She was a very friendly dog,” said her handler. Durgin said Emma retired from police work in 2015 and became a family pet and “couch potato.” He said her loyalty to him made her the occasional “devil” when, if he didn’t take her wherever he went, she’d dust the house with a bag of flour, or drag trash around. “It was like, ‘You want to leave me? I’ll show you,’” he recalled. At the end of Emma’s life, Durgin said, he was carrying her outside and his wife Casey was spoon feeding her. “She was definitely ready,” he said. “There was no doubt it was time.” He said students, fellow police officers and the community-at-large have been contacting him and his family with well wishes about their loss of their 15-year companion. “The outpouring of support has been unbelievable and it’s helped a lot,” Durgin said. “It’s hard to explain the feeling. It’s a terrible thing.” Durgin said he has no plans of returning to work as a K-9 officer because of family obligations and, he said, “It’s a young man’s game.” The Durgins plan to have a private memorial at their home.
