VERO BEACH – More than 100 people attended the unveiling of the K-9 memorial at the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office Wednesday. The K-9 program started in Indian River County in 1990.
The memorial ceremony included current and retired handlers. The names of the K-9s that are currently working, passed or retired are all listed at the memorial.
Sheriff Deryl Loar and Sgt. Christian Mathisen spoke at the dedication that ultimately unveiled a bronze sculpture of a K-9 by artist Lena Toritch, an artist from Salt Lake City, Utah.
To fund the project, Sheriff Loar used money from drug dealers and forfeited assets after finding a clause with the U.S. Department of Justice.
“We got together with a small budget and decided on how we would do this,” Sheriff Loar stated.
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Contractors who found out about the project soon came forward and donated their time. The money was used to buy all the materials to complete the memorial.
“Having this K-9 memorial dedicated to all the active, retired, and past K-9’s is more meaningful to us than you’ll probably ever imagine. We greatly appreciate it,” Sgt. Christian Mathisen, who is currently in charge of the K-9 unit at the Sheriff’s Office, said in a statement.
“I cannot imagine what it’s going to look like in 5 or 10 years, absolutely beautiful. This thing will be here for the rest of all of our lives,” Sheriff Loar said.
The K-9 memorial is worth visiting if you’re ever on the way to Vero Beach from Sebastian. It is located at 4055 41st Ave. Just take U.S. Highway 1 to 41st Avenue, go west until you see the Sheriff’s Office on the left. The memorial is in the center of the parking lot; you can’t miss it.
