BEAUMONT, Texas — The Claybar Funeral Home in Orange is honoring K9s that have once served with the Beaumont Police Department, whether they passed in the line of duty or not.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: The video above is from a January 26, 2021 newscast.)
This idea sparked from the death of K9 Hutch after he became suddenly ill in January 2021.
He had served with BPD or nearly 10 years. He passed away with his handler, Beaumont Officer Jay Revia, at his side.
Hutch was born in Belgium on March 8, 2008 and began his career with the department in Sept. 2009. He was nearly 13 years old.
He was a "dual-purpose" dog and had a career of finding and removing drugs from the streets of Beaumont.
At the time of his death, Hutch was retired from active duty and had been spending his retirement with Revia and his family.
BPD worked to find names of as many K9s as possible and Claybar Funeral Home handled the rest.
The funeral home presented officers with two plaques honoring all the K9 dogs that faithfully served in the department.