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Died 10/19/19
Handler – Officer Brad Barrientos
Longtime Winona police dog was part of community, has died
Neko, a police dog with the Winona Police Department for nine years, died Saturday at the age of 11½. His death isn’t simply a loss felt by his partner, his family or the department. It’s one that is experienced by the entire community. Neko was brought to the U.S. from the Czech Republic, and he worked with the department from 2009 until his retirement in April 2018. Officer Brad Barrientos, who was Neko’s handler, said many police dogs are brought from Eastern Europe because they breed dogs there for “their drive and their temperament.” In the U.S., he said, dogs are more likely bred for their color, size and other characteristics. Barrientos and Neko began training together in March 2009. He said Neko’s temperament was “like something that I’ve never seen before.” Dogs such as Neko weren’t really meant to be house pets, Barrientos said, because they are bred to be “high strung,” to have “high energy” and to have “drive that’s out of this world.” “I was a little bit in shock with just how hyper he was,” Barrientos said. After that initial training, Neko became Barrientos’ partner. The dog lived at home with Barrientos and his family, and would join Barrientos on the job. When conducting searches, Barrientos said, humans rely on their eyes, while dogs use their well-developed sense of smell. Neko, who was trained to detect the odor of humans and narcotics, was rewarded by getting a toy. While Neko could sniff out clues his human partner couldn’t, the pair still faced an interspecies communication barrier. On more than one occasion, Barrientos thought Neko understood what he was trying to tell him only to discover he was mistaken. Working with Neko, he said, taught him patience. With that patience and hard work, Neko went on to impress not just his partner, but the Winona community as well. Neko won awards a few awards for his skills, according to a police department Facebook post after the dog’s death. He took third-place in a 2013 U.S. Police Canine Association narcotics trial and earned USPCA top honors in 2017 for his skills in searching for narcotics. Officers decided it was best to retire Neko when his age began to limit his function, and they brought a new police dog into the department. Goose, who hails from Belgium, is officer Doug Inglett’s new partner. Barrientos said that it was a little bittersweet when his partner no longer came to work with him, but he also said that, in some ways, it was a relief because he no longer had to worry about correcting work-related behaviors with Neko. “My mind is at ease not having to think about some of the troubleshooting that may have to do with Neko,” Barrientos said. In retirement, Barrientos said that he never saw any aggression from Neko while at home. “I was a little bit skeptical how he would react with being in the house with my family and two young girls. He took to them wonderfully,” Barrientos said. “He would sleep upstairs with us. He would lay down in the middle of the living room, and the girls would lay their heads on Neko’s belly. He would play tug of war with them,” he said. Barrientos said that having Neko as a member of the family resulted in his girls knowing how to act appropriately around a dog in general, not just a pet. Neko died Saturday from an untreatable illness that had only begun to show weeks before. “There’s definitely an empty spot in our house,” Barrientos said.
