Related Articles
Died 10/8/18
Handler – Officer Dustin Franks
Retired Bellevue PD K-9 passes away
The longest-serving K-9 with the Bellevue Police Department, Spike, passed away Oct. 8 at age 14. Spike, who beat cancer twice, served on the K-9 unit for nine years, retiring in 2015 when his handler, Dustin Franks, was promoted to sergeant. Spike, like all other BPD K-9s, was a dual-purpose dog, meaning he was certified in several categories such as narcotics detection, apprehension, evidence recovery and tracking. He was also certified as a S.W.A.T dog. Franks said Spike held more years of employment than any other K-9 at BPD. “He was extremely good at his job,” he said. “The people that worked with him over the course of his career knew he was extremely reliable in all the things he did.” He beat cancer twice and his desire to work, even after retirement, never stopped. One aspect of the pair’s almost 12 years working together that Franks said he appreciated most is how much they trusted each other. “I had a lot of trust in him and he never really steered me in the wrong direction,” he said. Franks, who also kept Spike at home, said he was “fortunate” to have Spike as a house dog. “Sometimes, police dogs are on all the time and you kind of have to keep them separate from your family. Spike was a unique dog in that aspect,” he said. “He knew when it was time to start getting ready for work, and at the end of our shift he was able to shut that off.” Franks said he’s adjusting to not having Spike around all the time. “I was probably closer to that dog than I was to most people. I spent more time over the last 12 years that I had him than I did with my own family,” he said. “We had a unique bond that made it fun to work with.”
