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Died – 4/18/20
Handler – Sgt. Matthew Hricko.
Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office mourns death of beloved K9 officer
During his service as a deputy in the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office, Officer Mike located more than $17,000,000 worth of street drugs and assisted in 300 arrests- and he did it all with a cheerful attitude and wagging tail. Mike was a K9 officer with the sheriff’s office. On Saturday, four years after his retirement, he died at the age of 13. “K9 Mike was a respected member of the sheriff’s office for many years,” said Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls. “We’re appreciative of the contribution to public safety provided by Mike, as well as all our K9s.”All the officers mourn Mike’s loss- but most especially his handler, Sgt. Matthew Hricko. Mike, a Belgian Malinois, joined the sheriff’s office when he was a year old, and he lived with Hricko through his service and retirement. “He was really an amazing dog,” Hricko reflected. “He was the smartest dog I’d ever met, but he was so gentle. He was just a great, great dog.” Mike had two jobs, and he excelled at both. He was a single purpose narcotics detection dog, meaning he located illegal substances but did not participate in criminal pursuit. Hricko noted that Mike won several narcotics detection competitions and took third place in the National Narcotic Detector Dog competition. “He had the most incredible nose,” said Hricko. “He made me look good.” Mike’s second job was an unofficial position, but he took it just as seriously. Mike delighted children when the sheriff’s office visited schools. “He did probably over 1,000 presentations for elementary schools and Cub Scout groups,” Hricko recalled. Hricko noted that not all dogs are suited to both police duty and interactions with children. Many dogs that excel at narcotics detection don’t do well with kids. Mike was not one of those dogs. “Besides doing all those narcotics, he was such a friendly dog. All the kids could pet him. He’d just run down the row, and all the kids would pet him.” Hricko’s own 5-month-old daughter constantly interacted with Mike. “We never worried about her. He was so gentle with her,” Hricko said. After Mike retired, he continued to live with Hricko’s family. The Hrickos adopted shelter dogs, and Mike helped with their training. “They learned so much just from watching him,” Hricko said. At one point, the Hrickos fostered a litter of puppies The puppies never irritated Mike. “He would sit there with all these puppies running around him,” Hricko recalled, “You would think as an old retired police dog, he would have been agitated, but he let them climb on him and everything.” Hricko lamented the loss of his beloved dog, but he believes that Mike has crossed the Rainbow Bridge- a reference to a poem of the same name that describes an other-worldly place where pets go upon death, eventually to be reunited with their owners. Hricko was able to find a bright side in the death of his hard-working hound who loved sniffing out criminal drug dealers. “His loss is hard for us, but I know he’s chasing (drugs) on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge,” Hricko laughed.
