Brick K9 Rigby Retires To Relax With His Family

BRICK, NJ — For the last eight years, Brick K9 Officer Rigby has sniffed out narcotics and tracked down suspects. Now, after all his hard work, he's getting to relax with his family.

Rigby, a 9-year-old German shepherd who is certified in patrol and narcotics detection, was retired from his duties with the Brick Township Police Department recently. He and his handler, Brick Patrolman Dan Fogarty, put Rigby's skills to use not only in Brick but as part of the Ocean County Special Operations Group, and worked with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency on several occasions.

Rigby came to the Brick Township Police Department in 2012. He and his brother, Sully, were born in the Czech Republic and came to the United States in 2011, initially to become working dogs for the U.S. Marine Corps. But both ended up becoming police K9s instead; Sully is with the Little Egg Harbor Township Police Department.

Fogarty and Rigby became a K9 team on May 11, 2012, after completing the Atlantic County John “Sonny” Burke K9 Academy, an extensive four-month patrol training program that included obedience, agility, criminal apprehension and building searches. Rigby then return to the K9 Academy later that year to complete K9 Narcotic Detection School. At this three-month school Rigby learned to identify and indicate on seven different illegal narcotics.

In the years since, Fogarty and Rigby had nearly 400 calls for service. The narcotics work has become increasingly dangerous to K9 and human officers because of the arrival of fentanyl and carfentanyl, which are so potent police officers have suffered overdoses from airborne particles, Brick Police Chief James Riccio said.

Fogarty said he and Rigby never had any problems from contact with either substance. They have faced other dangers, however, including an instance when Rigby was called on to protect Fogarty.

What started out as a call for a domestic disturbance turned into Rigby putting the suspect in a hold.

"Right after we left the victim we got a call that he (the suspect) was in the house," Fogarty said. The man, who had run off after an argument, had broken into the house. When Fogarty and Rigby returned, the man ran out of the house but surrendered when he encountered Rigby.

"I had him in a hold and was handcuffing him when he started to struggle," Fogarty said. As the man tried to fight back, Fogarty called on Rigby, who grabbed the man by the arm and subdued him.

"It was an exact scenario we practice in training," Fogarty said. "He protected me."

Rigby, who has lived with Fogarty and his family while serving as a working dog gets to remain with the Fogartys in retirement.

"We have a policy in place that allows the dogs to remain with their handler, so long as that's what the handler wants," Riccio said. The host program covers the veterinary care for the dogs for the remainder of their lives.

"He's a big part of our family," Fogarty said. And though Rigby is trained to be a working dog, when he and Fogarty are not on duty, "he's just like any other dog."

"They do have that light switch that flips off when they're not working," Fogarty said. "When he sees me in uniform he gets really excited to go to work. When we come home, he's a regular dog."

It is hard work, Fogarty and Riccio said, not only because of the opiate epidemic but because of the changing times.

Rigby and the other dogs are called into service far more frequently, but their drug training has provided noteworthy results when it comes to vaping and the vape cartridges that are laced with THC, the ingredient in marijuana that produces the feeling of being high.

"It's hard to tell just from looking at them what a vaping cartridge contains," Fogarty said. But the dogs can pick up the scent of the THC, even in the cartridges. They even can tell the difference between oils containing THC and CBD oils, which are growing in popularity.

"It's amazing," Fogarty said. "It's like when your mom makes stew. You smell the stew, but they smell all the ingredients."

The retirement of Rigby leaves the department with four K9 teams: Sgt. Paul Catalina and 8-year-old Duke; Patrolman Keith Prendeville and 10-year-old Max; Patrolman John Turrin and Vader, who is 4; and Patrolman Scott Smith and Echo, who is 2 and joined the department in January 2019. Max, Duke and Echo are German shepherds and Vader is a black Labrador retriever.

Riccio said the department will acquire another K9 officer down the line, especially because Max and Duke are also reaching the end of their active careers. Usually they are purchased with drug forfeiture funds, though Echo was purchased through a grant. It's also a matter of finding the right dog, then there's the training.

"There's no timetable, but we'll definitely get another one," Riccio said.

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