Griffith K9 Handler Receives Memorial Tuesday
On Tuesday June 29th, “Protecting K9 Heroes” a nonprofit founded by Staci Goveia presented Griffith K9 Handler Officer Robert Gutierrez with a memorial pastel painting of K9 Gino and a memorial plaque with hooks for his leash & collar. The pastel painting of Gino was done by Mary Claire Villa of Mareclaire.art. Protecting K9 Heroes has been providing much needed safety equipment for K9’s across the country as well as remembering fallen K9’s. This month was no exception with sad news coming out of Griffith.
On June 9, 2021 The Griffith Police Department announced that K9 Gino had been recently diagnosed with cancer and succumbed to the sudden illness that morning.
K9 Gino was the first town K9 in Griffith and was put on the roster in June of 2013. Gino served with Officer Gutierrez for 8 years on the department handling numerous duties including suspect apprehensions, drug detections, building searches, and finding numerous missing individuals over the years.
“Gino truly lived out the Griffith police K-9’s motto of We speak with our lives,” Gutierrez said. “Even though our canines can’t speak Gino’s loyalty, commitment, and courage was expressed with every deployment. We as humans could learn a lot from our canines.”
“K9 Gino and his human partner, Officer Gutierrez, served our officers and community exceptionally well during their 8 years of service together,” Griffith Police Chief Greg Mance said. “K9 Gino was skilled in narcotics detection and patrol work, but he truly shined above others during his frequent interactions with the public. Without a doubt, our PD and community are better because of K9 Gino.”
To help support Protecting K9 Heroes you can visit their website at http://www.protectingk9heroes.com/ or visit their Facebook page “Protecting K9 Heroes”
