Monmouth County, State K9 Police Say Goodbye to One of Their Own With Final Salute

He was the best work partner you could ask for, according to Holmdel Patrolman Chris Cherney: he was loyal and energetic, and he “never complained about going into work”.

In fact, Cherney says that Diogi, the K9 German Shepherd partner of Holmdel Patrolman Joseph Van Pelt, still tried to go into work every day since being diagnosed with terminal canine leukemia back in August and was brought home to rest for his final weeks by Officer Van Pelt.

Diogi will be given a final salute today worthy of an officer of his caliber: the Holmdel Police Department, along with officers from the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office and K9 units from all over New Jersey, including Bergen County, will be standing in full police salute as Diogi is brought into Red Bank Animal Hospital at 10:00 a.m. Friday morning to be put to sleep, as a way to end his suffering.

Officers first thought that the 8-year-old patrol and narcotics detection dog was experiencing hip problems over the summer, a common occurrence in German Shepherds and other large canine breeds. Diogi’s leukemia diagnosis broke the hearts of not only his partner Van Pelt, but the entire police department, according to Cherney.

Cherney, who says he is Van Pelt’s best friend and has taken over handling Diogi’s final arrangements for Van Pelt, says that Diogi is like any other member of the ”brotherhood” of police officers, and Van Pelt considers his partner to be a third child; he has a teenage son and an 11-year-old daughter at home as well. Van Pelt has chosen to spend as much time with Diogi as possible during the days leading up to today’s final ceremony, leaving Cherney, Sgt. Edward Martinez, and Sgt. Charlie Groder to coordinate today’s final salute among the dozens of officers who will be attending. Martinez also has one of the only remaining K9 partners within the Holmdel Police Department.

Diogi was brought as a pup by Van Pelt to the K9 Police Academy in February of 2008. Named in honor of a K9 partner and Florida officer murdered while tracking down a fugitive, Diogi would graduate the academy as an expert human tracking and narcotics detection dog. Cherney says Diogi, during his time as a Holmdel officer, tracked countless fugitive suspects; assisted in several hundred narcotics investigations and arrests; and was responsible for hundreds of CDS and contraband seizures.

“He had one heck of a bite,” Cherney says. “Even as a pup in training- I have seen videos of Van Pelt trying to take away his stuffed animal prize, and Diogi gives him a love bite. He was a character.”

Diogi didn’t just assist in tracking criminals, however. Cherney recalled how last summer, Diogi was considered a hero for tracking down a small child from Colts Neck who had been lost.

It is for heroics such as finding a lost child that Diogi will be remembered. The department is currently planning a way to honor his memory at the station headquarters, but for now, Officer Van Pelt and other members of the K9 unit will remember Diogi as, “the best K9 partner you could hope for: loyal, friendly, eager to work and ready for action.”

“Diogi will be missed like any other member of this department.”