Beloved Retired Kennewick K-9 Axel Passes Away

He retired in 2019 along with his handler, but K-9 Axel remained one of the favorite Kennewick Police K-9 officers. Now, one of the area's most famous "fur missiles" has crossed the Rainbow Bridge as many refer to the passing of a dog.

   Axel passes away last week.

The Kennewick Police Department announced over the weekend that Axel had passed away.  He and his handler, Officer Kohn, worked together for 8 years with the department. Kohn also retired that year, 2019 after 30 years with KPD, 22 of them as a K-9 officer.

Axel was credited with 250 arrests, being considered directly responsible for locating, bringing down, or otherwise apprehending the suspects.

Officer Kohn previously worked with two other dogs, K-9 Deke and K-9 Vigo.

 Different dogs have different roles with Police

Some K-9s have special tasks, such as drug locating, others combine drug locating with pursuit, etc.

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Axel became a famous (and a citizen) favorite because he was mostly used for chasing down and apprehending uncooperative suspects. He was the epitome of why many K-9s are called "fur missiles."

He will be greatly missed.