A police dog in the Gallia County Sheriff’s office, Jeck, had successful surgery at the OSU Veterinary Medical Center after being injured in the line of duty last week.
Jeck, pronounced “Jack,” was stabbed twice in the neck early Friday morning while helping to find a man who stole a police SUV.
“These were life-threatening injuries,” said Melissa Weber, the director of communications and marketing for the College of Veterinary Medicine. “However, his handler, a police officer, knew first aid and just did everything right and then, after applying pressure to the wound, got him to an emergency clinic in their area.”
Jeck was then taken to the OSU Veterinary Medical Center around 7:45 a.m. Friday.
“He had surgery Friday afternoon; they removed damaged tissue and were able to repair damage to the jugular vein that had been inflected by the knife wound,” Weber said. “He will be following up with his hometown veterinarian.”
On Saturday morning, Jeck left Columbus and returned to Gallia County.
“He is back home with his handler now. They are doing some stuff with him locally here through a local vet,” said Joe Browning, Gallia County sheriff. “Basically he is doing pretty good considering what happened to him.”
Jeck is 6 years old and has been on the force for four years.
“We hope that after his recovery he is able to go back to work. Not only is that a big investment for that type of dog but that is what they like to do, they enjoy working,” Browning said.
This is the first time one of Gallia County’s police dogs has been injured. They currently own one other K-9, but it is still in training.
The sheriff’s office will miss having Jeck as part of the team.
“Certainly it is a blow to us because we do not have that many resources like what you would find in Columbus or Cleveland,” Browning said. “(Jeck) and the handler, they are a team and certainly when you take that component out of it, that does take one of our options.”
The suspect in the case, Kelly Krebs, 31, has been arrested and is facing a charge of assaulting or harassing a police dog, a fourth-degree felony, Browning said.
Jeck was chasing Krebs in Meigs County on Friday morning after Krebs had abandoned a stolen SUV and set off on foot, according to the Gallia County Sherrif’s office. Krebs then allegedly stabbed Jeck.
According to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction’s website, Krebs was released from prison on Aug. 8 after serving six years for one count of aggravated vehicular homicide, one count of aggravated vehicular assault, two counts of vandalism and one count of drug possession.
The possession of drugs charge was committed in Franklin County.
