WINONA LAKE – Winona Lake Police Department lost an officer Saturday.
Winona Lake patrolman and canine handler Joe Bumbaugh said K9 officer Hugo passed away Saturday after a fight with Lymphoma.
Bumbaugh said that Hugo had been with the department for six years and was very good at his job.
Hugo was a narcotics control dog from the Slavic Republic. He was trained to search for people and drugs. Bumbaugh and Hugo trained at Vohne Liche Kennels in Denver, Ind.
Bumbaugh and Hugo trained on a daily basis, and Hugos’ search abilities were utilized frequently.
“Hugo was one of the more successful canines the county had ever seen,” Bumbaugh said. “If there were drugs he would find them.”
In 2008, Hugo was a part of a team of K9s and their handlers that competed at the Ninth Annual American Working Dog K-9 Olympics at Vohne Liche Kennels. The team of three canines from the Warsaw Police Department and Winona Lake Police Department placed second overall.
The competition was based on tracking subjects, obstacle courses, building searches, bite work, K9 control and obedience. In 2009 at the same event, Hugo and the other dogs placed first overall.
In addition to working for WLPD, Hugo was a family pet to the Bumbaugh family. Not only is it difficult for Bumbaugh to lose his partner, but he has lost a member of his family as well.
“Most people can’t imagine the closeness between handler and canine,” Bumbaugh said. “Hugo had twin personalities. At home he was the family pet, but at work he was an all-business canine. When I would put my uniform on in the morning he would pace the house, because he knew it was time go to work. He lived to work.”
In January, Bumbaugh found out that Hugo had cancer and needed treatment. Dr. Carla Carlton at Lake City Animal Clinic suggested that Bumbaugh take Hugo to the Purdue University Small Animal Hospital in West Lafayette.
“I can’t say enough good things about what Dr. (Mike) Childress and Sarah Lahrman did,” Bumbaugh said.
After going through chemotherapy, Hugo was in remission for a short time.
“The cancer came back quickly and more aggressively,” Bumbaugh said. “He worked Friday and overnight Friday he became ill and things took a turn for the worst.”
