CPPD reported on their Facebook page the passing of Central Point Police K9 Simon. On Thanksgiving night the CPPD Chief noticed Simon was acting off, panting heavily and was lethargic. She made the decision to take him to the ER vet where it was discovered he was in heart failure. He passed not long after arriving.
Simon came to CPPD in March of 2020 through the Working Dogs Oregon Police Victim Support Dog program.
Simon spent his first five years as a seeing eye service dog heroically navigating his handler through the streets and public transportation in Portland before distraction from other dogs became an issue and hazard for his handler.
Simon fit right in to the CPPD family. Assigned to a victim support advocate and going home with the chief, Simon had hundreds of victim contacts, visited fire evacuation camps during the 2020 fires and attended Southern Oregon fire command meetings.
Simon was able to relieve the stress of his community no matter the situation. One of Simon’s biggest impacts was not completely realized until this morning when Chief Allison reported to her department about the loss of Simon. He was a great source of mental health support to the officers and staff of the Central Point Police Department.
Today CPPD shares this sad passing knowing that Simon set a benchmark in Police victim support services. Making an impact on a community was never the goal. Simon was their to help those fighting in the most dangerous and terrifying moments of their lives, impacting the community in such a positive way was what Simon did.
A memorial will be held after the first of the year in honor of Simon.
Courtesy of CPPD
