Resigning Ohio police officer can keep K-9, council decides during emotional meeting

NEWTON FALLS, Ohio — An Ohio officer will be able to keep his K-9 best friend after he resigns from the Newton Falls police force, city officials decided this week.

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According to WJW-TV and WKBN-TV, the Newton Falls City Council voted Thursday night to sell the police dog, Kato, for just $1 to Officer Steve Lyden, who is leaving his post to work at Mercy Health.

The decision came after dozens of Lyden’s supporters flooded the council’s chambers. Many of the residents took issue with officials’ previous agreement to charge Lyden $5,000 for Kato, along with a provision that the officer would have to pay a $25,000 fine if he ever breeds, sells or returns the dog to service, the news outlets reported.

Lyden, who has worked with the K-9 since May 2020, said he and his family simply want to keep Kato as a pet and have no intention of violating the provision, WJW reported. But Lyden voiced concerns about “having a $25,000 penalty hanging over my family’s head,” according to WKBN.

“We love that dog so much,” he said of Kato, who has lived with Lyden, his wife and his daughter, WKBN reported. “We spent quite a lot of our own money on him and didn’t ask the city for any of it. The vet clinic in town donated all care and was buying his food up until December of last year, then we took over.”

Although some council members argued in favor of the stipulations and said the original $5,000 price tag was intended to reimburse the city for Kato’s training, Councilman Christopher Granchie moved to scrap the agreement and sell the K-9 to Lyden for $1, according to the news outlets. The motion passed to cheers.

“We get to keep our boy,” Lyden told WJW.

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