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Handler – Sergeant Kyle Stone
HPO mourning sudden loss of retired K9
The Henderson Police Department is mourning the sudden loss of a retired K9. Exo was put down this week after veterinarians found multiple tumors on his liver. Sergeant Kyle Stone says the friendship they had will last forever. “We definitely made each other better and that is why we functioned well as a team,” he said. Exo the K9 was a little over a year old when he joined Sergeant Stone’s family. From that moment, Stone knew he and Exo would have a special connection. “Exo was kind of quirky- like he was kind a of a weird dog. I think his characteristics brought out some of mine and vice versa,” he said. In October 2014, Stone and Exo entered into basic training and began patrolling together in Henderson later that year. Exo retired from police work in June 2021 at 8 years old. During that time, Exo helped in about 500 deployment and approximately 150 arrests. “He was a dual-purpose K9, which means he served as a patrol function and narcotics detection. Our deployments ranged from anywhere from school searches for narcotics to school demos for kids to tracking violent felons and looking for burglars,” Stone said. In the midst of fighting crime with Stone, Exo was also a popular police dog in the community. “A lot of times I’d get stopped and people would be like oh you have Exo right? And they would want to talk about the dog. Whether it was just out on a normal patrol or walking in a neighborhood- people knew who he was,” he said. Stone says he’s blessed and grateful for all the memories he and Exo had over the years.“More than anything he ever did on the streets; Exo was the best partner I could’ve asked for. Having the privilege of working with him has been the highlight of my career. He may be gone, but he’ll forever have an impact on me,” Sergeant Stone said. Exo will be cremated and buried at a K9 Cemetery in Evansville at a later date.
