Please Welcome K-9 Anzo #414

Please welcome K-9 “Anzo” to our Project K-9 Hero Pack as our 414th Program Member. Anzo honorably served as a Dual-Purpose Patrol/Narcotics Detection K-9 with the Walker County Sheriff’s Office and Gordon County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia from 2019 until he retired on February 1st, 2023.

Anzo was bought at six weeks old in 2017 as a family pet, and then was trained for the next two years by his Handler before certifying as a Police K-9. In his years of loyal service, he assisted in apprehensions and warrant services with agencies from all over the tri-state (GA, AL, TN) area including the Walker County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Marshals Service, Hamilton County’s Fugitive Task Force, Lafayette PD, and Lookout Mountain Judicial Drug Task Force.

Anzo helped gain convictions in Walker County when he located evidence, including firearms that were used in violent crimes, and was deployed on hundreds of narcotics investigations. Anzo assisted clearing an unruly crowd of at least 300 at a racetrack in Gordon County, without a single officer having to use force, because of his convincing attitude. Anzo was named the K-9 of the Year for the State of Georgia in 2021.

In early November, while his Handler was out of town for work, his wife Tiffany recognized the symptoms of Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus (GDV), otherwise known as bloat, and immediately rushed him to the closest emergency veterinarian an hour away. A life saving surgery was performed at the cost of $3307.87. An emergency application for assistance was completed on Sunday, and we as an organization made a decision to immediately place Anzo in our program and cover this bill at 100% for his still actively serving Handler and his family.