$50K raised to help retired officer buy his former K-9 partner

As the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports, Marietta police officer Matthew Hickey and his K-9 partner, Ajax, have developed a close bond during the four years they’ve been working together.

Ajax’s owner, Matt Hickey, retired from the Marietta Police Department just last month.

Hickey has been anxious someone may try to outbid him.

A GoFundMe page was set up to help Hickey buy Ajax, and it has raised more than $41,000 as of Sunday. According to the site, the extra funds will go to an organization that buys bulletproof vests for K-9 units.

The page initially sought to raise $3,500, the amount needed for Hickey to buy Ajax, but it has far surpassed that goal.

Three days after Hickey’s retirement, Marietta City Council met to discuss the issue of Ajax.

“Officer Hickey came in when he retired and wanted to buy the dog right then, but we couldn’t do it”, Marietta Mayor Joe Matthew told NBC News. If Hickey continues to work on a case-by-case basis, that would allow him to legally keep the canine.

He was stunned to learned that under state law, Ajax is considered property and will be auctioned off. Hickey hopes to use the money raised from the account to be the highest bidder. The officer and his dog are loving each other, they are family.

“This particular unit, this particular dog, out of the unit, state and federal money may have been used”. And that would be what the city deserves, for playing this greedy game’.

Hickey was in attendance at the news conference on Monday and said that he had not heard any update from city officials after Thursday night to confirm that Ajax would be able to stay with him. “As a public official, I swore I would uphold the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of OH, and the laws of Marietta”.