Police dog remembered

More than 50 law enforcement officers pay respects to Ringo

A grieving Jesse Ray Jordan, who became acquainted with K-9 Ringo at Anderson County High, is comforted by his father, Spartacus Jordan, during Friday's memorial service for the police dog.

Ringo, the Anderson County Sheriff's Department K-9, died of kidney failure Feb. 20.

Sherri Prewitt, with Samuel Franklin Florist, places a wreath atop the cruiser where K-9 Ringo

CLINTON - During an elaborate memorial, Ringo the police dog received a final send-off Friday befitting canine aristocracy.

A motorcade of 30 police cruisers rolled slowly beneath a giant American flag stretched between fire department ladder trucks.

A floral arrangement spelling out the dog's name was put across the windshield of the cruiser in which the Belgian Malinois traveled with his human partner, Anderson County Deputy Rick Coley.

Taps played softly outside the Clinton Community Center, where more than 100 people gathered to pay their respects.

Among the mourners: some 50 law enforcement officers - Clinton police, Anderson, Scott and Campbell County deputies, state troopers and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officers.

A multimedia slide show with pictures of Ringo in action, training and posing with his master or just cavorting, was flashed on the center's Great Room wall.

Poster-sized photos of Ringo and awards he had won flanked the urn holding Ringo's cremated remains.

More than one griever dabbed tears with tissues or fingers as Rio Diamond's song "I Believe'' played.

Ringo, described as fun-loving and hard-working, died Feb. 20 of kidney failure.

The highly trained police dog was 10 years old.

Ringo worked from 2001 to 2008 with the Clinton Police Department and finished his career with the Anderson County Sheriff's Department.

"He worked up until his last days," Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said.

"Ringo was second to none in his abilities to find illegal drugs or seek out a wanted felon."

To law enforcement officers, Ringo was one of them.

"The way we feel about it, they (police dogs) are no different from an officer," said Matt Forsyth, the department's K-9 unit supervisor and trainer. "They're one of our partners and another officer."

Speaker after speaker paid tribute to the centuries-old bond between people and dogs and the selfless dedication and bravery of working K-9s.

"These are not junkyard dogs," veterinarian Will Roberts said. "These animals communicate with their handlers in a manner allowing fine, precise control of behaviors in a variety of circumstances."

Without Ringo, Roberts said, Deputy Coley's job "will be tougher. His back will be less well-covered. His negotiations with criminals missing an important bark."