Arlington honors the city’s fire and police dogs with new statue

The K9 units serving with the Arlington Fire and Police Department now have a memorial statue at city hall dedicated to the dogs who are, have and will serve the city.

The bronze statue located between city hall and the George W. Hawkes Downtown Library was unveiled on Wednesday. The statue depicts two former Arlington service dogs: Labrador retriever Brickman, who retired from the fire department and died later on, and German shepherd Mojo, who died in service of the police department in 2016.

Interim Police Chief Kevin Kolbye said at the statues’ unveiling that police service dogs are an extension of the department and protect officers. The service dogs are the ones who put their lives on the line to pursue subjects and make sure the community is safe, he said.

Fire Chief Don Crowson added that the dogs’ service sometimes gets forgotten, but he’s happy a statue will forever memorialize their service.

“It is an amazing monument and we’re very proud,” Crowson said. “These animals are part of our public safety family and we’re here to recognize the very important role they provide in providing safety services for our community.”

Many city leaders attended the unveiling, including City Council Member Sheri Capehart who led the charge to get the monument made.

“Its just the culmination of a lot of hard work, a lot of generosity from the community and a lot of respect and gratitude to the service of these dogs and their handlers,” she said explaining that $65,000 was raised from the community for the statue.

Capehart said the journey for the memorial started in 2011 after a service dog passed away and the need to memorialize their service became apparent.

“That partnership that’s formed between that human bond and that animal bond is just incredible,” she said. “It is nothing that you can truly replicate.”