Racine County K-9 Murphy passes away months before retirement
RACINE, Wis. - Racine County K-9 Murphy passed away after suffering an unexpected medical emergency at his home on March 31. It's the third K-9 officer the sheriff's office has lost in about six months.
The sheriff's office said K-9 Murphy was taken to the vet after the medical emergency, but nothing could be done. Surrounded by his family, K-9 Murphy was humanely put to sleep, the sheriff's office said.
The Belgian Malinois was born in August 2012 in Hungary and placed with Deputy Fisher in October 2013. After six weeks of training, they hit the streets working overnights to protect the Racine County community.
Murphy was a dual-purpose dog certified in narcotic detection, evidence/article search, building search, tracking, handler protection and criminal apprehension.
Racine County K-9 Murphy
The sheriff's office said he and Deputy Fisher had over 2,500 training hours and nearly 600 career deployments, sharing some highlights:
- K-9 Murphy was instrumental in the apprehension of dangerous criminals following multiple police pursuits.
- Deputy Fisher and K-9 Murphy assisted a local agency that had an armed robbery with shots fired inside the restaurant. The suspects fled on foot, and K-9 Murphy led officers to a service road where the suspects were previously picked up by a car. During the track, K-9 Murphy located key pieces of evidence, including the mask and gloves used by the suspects.
- K-9 Murphy was able to protect Deputy Fisher from a male attempting to attack him. The team was dispatched to a residence where a man was pounding on the windows and trying to get into the house. When Deputy Fisher confronted the suspect, he ignored Deputy Fisher’s lawful commands and quickly advanced toward Deputy Fisher. Deputy Fisher released his partner, and K-9 Murphy took the suspect down. During the struggle, the suspect attempted to put K-9 Murphy in a headlock and tried to bite the dog. K-9 Murphy held onto the suspect until he was taken into custody without further incident. K-9 Murphy was not injured during this deployment.
- Deputy Fisher and K-9 Murphy, along with other deputies, were sent to a residence for a domestic violence incident where a male was also stalking the victim. Upon arrival, the deputies could not locate the suspect. K-9 Murphy and Deputy Fisher were able to track the suspect to a pond where he was trying to conceal himself under the water. The suspect ignored several lawful commands to come out of the water and surrender, so Deputy Fisher released K-9 Murphy into the water. K-9 Murphy apprehended the suspect, and deputies took the suspect into custody.
He was a longtime member of the SWAT Team and often assisted the Racine County Sheriff’s Metro Drug Unit while serving search warrants.
Over the last couple of years, Deputy Fisher and K-9 Murphy were primarily assigned to the training division
Deputy Fisher had planned to retire with Murphy at the end of 2023, the sheriff's office said, noting that they looked forward to spending time at Murphy’s second most favorite place to be, Deputy Fisher’s cabin up north.
Racine County K-9 Murphy
"While I am saddened over the loss of K-9 Murphy, I hope Deputy Fisher takes comfort in the tremendous service he and K-9 Murphy provided to the community," said Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling. "Their teamwork, training, and dedication took guns, drugs, and thugs off the streets – there is no way to measure the number of lives they saved. K-9 Murphy lived a very full life. Thank you for your service, and you will be missed."
The sheriff's office thanked Dr. Ted Randelzhofer and the staff at the Union Grove Animal Hospital "for taking such good care of K-9 Murphy throughout his career. Dr. Randelzhofer’s generous care was provided at almost no cost to the K9 program."
The sheriff's office noted this was the third passing of a department K-9 officer after the passing of K-9 Friday in March K-9 Nitro in October 2022.
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Racine County K-9 Murphy
The Sheriff’s K-9 program is solely funded through the generous contributions of the community. If you are interested in making a tax-deductible donation of any amount to the Sheriff’s K-9 Unit, you can make a check out to the Racine County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit or contact one of the K-9 Supervisors at:
Sgt. Troy Ruffalo
(262) 636-8785
or
Sgt. Joe Patla
(262) 636-3841
Lastly, if a group or business would like to fully fund a new K-9, they may assist the sheriff in naming the new dog.