Memorial service celebrates North Huntingdon police dog
It was a dog's life — an extraordinary life that made a difference in a Westmoreland County community.
About 100 people and four police dogs gathered Saturday for a memorial service at the Norwin High School football stadium, to remember Vegas, a K-9 with the North Huntingdon Township Police Department that died of natural causes May 3.
Vegas, a German shepherd that served the department for eight years, collapsed while preparing to start his shift with his handler, Sgt. Kari Bauer, who rushed him to a veterinary hospital.
According to Bauer, Vegas experienced seizures. An autopsy determined he had a liver problem but otherwise was in good shape for a 10-year-old dog.
“I talked about retiring Vegas two years ago, but I couldn't do it,” Bauer said. “He had such a big heart.”
She said the dog, who was her pet as well as her partner, remained excited and able to perform his duties — including narcotics detection and search and rescue.
Bauer has accepted condolences from the community, including cards from more than 1,000 schoolchildren and residents.
At the service, she also received memorial plaques for Vegas from members of the Patriot Guard Riders and from the Norwin School District, which honored the K-9 as a Noble Knight — a reference to the district's mascot.
“He was not my dog,” Bauer said. “He was our dog; he was North Huntingdon's dog.”
Vegas involved in arrests
Earlier on May 3, Bauer testified in the Greensburg trial of Wayne Beatty, 35, of North Braddock, who was found guilty of drug possession and a gun violation in a incident that took place in April 2015.
Vegas played a key role in that case, Bauer said.
She said Vegas sniffed the outside of Beatty's vehicle and detected the scent of cocaine inside.
“He scratched on the driver's side door and on the passenger's side door,” she said. “That gave us enough probable cause to search the vehicle.”
“Without Vegas' help, there would be one more drug dealer on the streets,” said North Huntingdon District Judge Wayne Gongaware.
Among other cases Vegas helped to crack, Bauer noted he tracked within eight minutes a man armed with a gun and hammer who robbed the former Norwin Pharmacy in September 2011.
Speakers at the service also recounted how Vegas in October 2011 detected a drug suspect in a mobile home near Adamsburg, helping state police confiscate marijuana, heroin, a stolen gun and $10,000 in cash.
A year earlier, Vegas responded while off duty to find a distraught teen runaway who was hiding in a wooded area.
Bauer, who was partnered previously with three other police dogs, said her teaming with Vegas was the most successful.
“He was just phenomenal,” she said. “We knew each other. We worked together so much as a team.”
Good with kids
Vegas also helped the department create positive ties in the community — particularly at the Norwin schools he and his handler visited.
“Vegas would get excited to see the kids,” Bauer said. “That dog had such a connection with the kids. Their faces would just light up.
“Vegas enjoyed being with our teachers and students as much as our students and teachers enjoyed being with Vegas,” said Norwin Superintendent William Kerr.
As a reflection of that bond, the district's Sheridan Terrace Elementary School has initiated an annual Officer Vegas Award. The first will be presented at this year's school awards ceremony.
Principal Heather Newell said it will be given to a student who “embodies the qualities that Vegas represented — brave, courageous, hard working, loyal, and mostly standing up for what is right.”
North Huntingdon's K-9 service will continue. Officer Jeremy Nichols is partnered with another German shepherd, Nero.
Township commissioners last week authorized Bauer to explore buying a new dog and discussed the possibility of returning to having a third K-9 on the force.
Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-6622, jhimler@tribweb.com or via Twitter @jhimler_news.
