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Twin Lakes Village Board: K-9 Rex can stay with former Officer Patla for price of $18K
Twin Lakes Village Board: K-9 Rex can stay with former Officer Patla for price of $18K
Howard Skinner
TWIN LAKES -- The Twin Lakes Village Board on Monday night, July 6 moved to allow K-9 Rex to stay with former Officer Joe Patla for the purchasing price of $18,000. The board set a special meeting after the decision to retain the dog drew controversy, and dozens came out in support or opposition. K-9 Rex's future was the only item on the agenda Monday night -- and at times, the meeting got heated as people debated what was best for the dog.
The controversy began when Officer Patla put in his two weeks' notice. The village board said "fine," but the K-9 officer would not be allowed to keep the dog. Patla offered to purchase Rex, but was told he could not.
"In my opinion, if you don't honor a contract, and you want a parting gift on top of it, or if you don't honor your country, it truly sickens me!" said Howard Skinner, village board president.
Twin Lakes Police Chief Adam Grosz
According to the police chief, there was a prior agreement during the K-9's purchase that he would remain with the department through his career.
"If one subject matter expert we spoke to that Rex would in anyway be harmed by retaining him, I would have instantly fought for K-9 Rex to stay with Officer Patla," said Twin Lakes Police Chief Adam Grosz.
After that announcement, pushback from the village's residents was immediate. Petitions started floating around online to keep the pair together -- and a GoFundMe account was created to raise money to hep Patla purchase the dog. Many claimed their tax dollars paid for the dog -- and they should decide where the animal goes. But the police chief said that is not the case.
"We created a separate fund, a K-9 fund, gathered donations from the community for that fund. But it was always under the agreement that the village would retain property, ownership, of the animal throughout its career," Grosz said.
Officer Patla issued this statement to FOX6 News on July 1, when FOX6 first covered this controversy:
Following the board's decision to allow Patla to purchase Rex, he declined to do any interviews and instead said he'd be issuing a statement on the outcome.
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