Memorial held for Sheriff K-9 Endy

Courtesy of the Cache County Sheriff's Office

LOGAN — Deputies with the Cache County Sheriff’s Office held a memorial for Endy Wednesday morning. The K-9 service dog died last month of heat exhaustion after being left unattended in a patrol truck.

The event was held in front of the Memorial Wall that honors deputies who have died in the line of duty. The service began at 10 a.m. with a flag ceremony, followed by the eulogy, read by Lt. Mike Peterson, who oversees the patrol division. Sheriff Chad Jensen was the concluding speaker.

Jensen said Endy’s death has been devastating not only to his handler, Jason Whittier, but to all of law enforcement. He explained that the memorial was intended to honor Endy and the service that he had provided the community.

“During his service with our office and the service to our community, Endy was involved in 113 cases involving narcotic offenses, apprehensions and searches,” Jensen said. “Endy was not just a loyal partner or friend to everybody, he also served as a deterrent to many criminals in the community and inmates in the jail, to better safe guard our law enforcement officers while performing their duties, and providing another level of safety and security to the citizens in Cache County.”

According to reports, Whittier accidentally left Endy secured in the truck after their shift ended around noon on July 3, before taking part in family activities. Around 11:30 p.m. he realized the dog wasn’t in his outside kennel and discovered his body in the truck.

Whittier was reassigned, after temporarily being placed on unpaid leave during an internal investigation. He was later charged with aggravated animal cruelty, a class B misdemeanor. He is scheduled to be arraigned in court on August 28.

Jensen said Endy’s death has ignited a firestorm of hateful criticism nationally. He expressed appreciation to local citizens, who have recognized this was a tragic accident.

“Today’s service is to honor Endy and the service he provided to Cache County, not the other mean things that are being said about law enforcement and the officer involved.”

Endy and Rokki were the two dogs that made up the Sheriff’s Office K-9 team.

Jensen concluded by saying Endy’s life was not lost in vain. He pledged that as an office the deputies will do better to prevent this from occurring again. He noted that they have reached out to many other agencies and technology companies to more proactively equip all their K-9 vehicles with the most updated safety and warning systems available.

“Through Endy’s legacy, we will move forward as an agency with our K-9 program, making it better, stronger and safer and continue to benefit from having these magnificent K-9 service animals in our community to keep us all safer.”

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