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Died – 8/19/15
Handler – Officer Bryan Lockwood
Quakertown police to honor K-9 Kito
Quakertown police will honor the life of its first K-9 officer — a German shepherd named Kito — who died as the result of a debilitating illness last month. A public memorial service is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday outside of Quakertown Borough Hall at, 35 N. Third St. For the last seven years Kito was partnered with Officer Bryan Lockwood. When asked to describe his relationship with Kito — who also lived with Lockwood — the officer offered high praise. “Extreme loyalty, bravery and the utmost dedication,” he said Tuesday, “The best kind of partner you’d ever want.” The pair became inseparable.
Lockwood said he is still trying to adjust to things since Kito’s death on Aug. 19. “One thing you start to notice (as we worked together) is you kind of respond off each other without having to say anything. We knew what we were going to say or do. And as the years progressed, that was the way it was. And now that he’s not there I see myself doing things that were routine and normal for us but then I realize he’s not there so it changes things a little for me.”In a prepared statement, Quakertown police Chief Scott McElree said Lockwood and Kito helped investigate homicides, robberies and large-scale narcotics cases, and conducted life-saving searches. They also gave demonstrations at schools and community events. Born in 2007 in the Czech Republic, Kito was placed into service with Quakertown in 2008 after extensive training in North Carolina. He will be awarded with the department’s life saving award for his role in tracking a suicidal man that had ingested a large quantity of pills. The K-9 helped tracked the person from a car to behind a building, where he was found lying “in the grass, unconscious,” Lockwood said. The man has since received treatment for his problems and made a full recovery, according to McElree.
