Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office honors fallen K-9 partners at memorial service

K-9 memorial service

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office honored some of its most loyal deputies on Tuesday with a memorial service in Palm Harbor. FOX 13’s Genevieve Curtis reports. 

PALM HARBOR, Fla. - The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office honored some of its most loyal deputies on Tuesday. K-9s who served on the front lines and then went home as family.

During the ceremony, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office added two headstones to the K-9 memorial, honoring dogs who spent years protecting deputies and the public without hesitation.

More than 100 headstones now line the memorial lawn. Tennis balls rest beside several markers, a quiet reminder that these deputies also knew how to play.

What they're saying:

Among those honored this year was K-9 Reggie, the longtime partner of Lieutenant Mike Kilian.

Reggie served six years as both a patrol dog and a bomb detection dog, helping secure stadiums and major events long before fans ever walked through security.

"His bomb work was amazing," Kilian said. "He was such a calm dog, a friendly dog."

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From bomb sweeps to bonding rituals, after retirement, Reggie took on a very different role: a devoted Tampa Bay Lightning fan.

Kilian said Reggie had a game-night ritual that included sitting on the couch and insisting on holding hands throughout the entire game.

"Here’s this 90-pound German Shepard and we are holding hands the entire time. Anytime I let go, he’d hit me again, ‘nope, my hand,’" Kilian said.

When Reggie passed away last year, Kilian said the loss hit hard.

"I couldn’t legitimately watch a Lightning game," he said. "It was very difficult."

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Retired deputy Brad Byers also paid tribute to his four-legged partner, K-9 Hector, with whom he worked side by side for six years.

Byers recounted moments when Hector placed himself directly in harm’s way, including apprehending a suspect armed with a loaded handgun.

"There’s a reason why you’re here," Byers said, choking up. "It’s bigger than us."

Big picture view:

Throughout the ceremony, currently commissioned K-9s stood watch: trackers, bomb dogs, and narcotics dogs; all trained to move toward danger so their handlers don’t have to.

"They take a lot of the danger away from us, and put it on them, unfortunately," Kilian said. "They’re an invaluable tool. They are amazing."

Kilian said there have been many instances where deputies would not have survived without a K-9 on scene. In 2023, one handler was shot, and his K-9 partner saved his life.

A lawn, full of partners, furrever remembered for a bond that doesn’t end when the shift does, or when their end of watch arrives.

Curlew Hills Memory Gardens donates the plots of land for the K-9s so the handlers do not have to bear the expense.