The Niagara County Sheriff’s Office is mourning the sudden passing of one of its K-9 officers.
Sheriff James R. Voutour said Saturday that Sheriff’s Office Canine EJ was found unresponsive inside his kennel on Friday by his partner Deputy Richard Bull.
Preliminary findings suggest EJ died from a medical condition known as gastric torsion of the stomach, however, an autopsy has been scheduled to determine the true cause of death.
EJ was born on Sept. 25, 2015 in Hungary and began his career with the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office in March of 2017. Canine EJ was purchased in part from many generous community donations to the Niagara County Law Enforcement Foundation.
“The Community has always been great supporters of our Canine Division as well as the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office,” Voutour said.
EJ and Bull were New York State-certified in criminal apprehension, area searches, building searches, muzzle deployment, tactical high-risk deployment, tracking and advanced narcotics detection.
During their career as a canine team, Bull and EJ were responsible for several successful tracks, the recovery of numerous pieces of evidence and discovery of illegal narcotics. They also conducted several demonstrations at various events throughout Niagara County, including Lockport Blue, D.A.R.E., Young Marines and the Niagara County Fair.
Voutour said, “While Canine EJ’s tenure with the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office was short, he undoubtedly will be remembered for his hard work, loyal friendship to Deputy Bull and service to Niagara County.”
Canine EJ was named after LCpl. Eric James Orlowski, a U.S. Marine, fellow Marine and friend of Deputy Bull, who was killed in action on March 22, 2003 during Operation Enduring Freedom in Iraq.
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