Handler launches fundraiser in memory of beloved fire investigation dog Kai
A charity fundraising page has been launched in memory of a beloved fire investigation dog who died last week.
Kai, a Belgian Malinois, had worked as an investigation search dog for West Midlands Fire Service with handler and owner Mat Dixon, attending the scenes of fires in the West Midlands and sniffing out the causes.
Kai was retired from the service after suddenly losing his eyesight in early January. He continued living at home in Penn with Mr Dixon, and was diagnosed with a brain tumour before being placed in palliative care.
He died, aged 10, on March 7.
Mr Dixon has now set up a GoFundMe fundraising page in Kai's memory to raise money for The National Foundation for Retired Service Animals.
He posted: "I’ve set up this memorial page in memory of my amazing dog Kai, to raise funds for The National Foundation for Retired Service Animals.
"Kai burst into my life 10 1/2 years ago, as a Fire Investigation Dog Handler working for West Midlands Fire Service, I was scouring my local rescue centres for a young dog to train up as my next search dog.
"I came across puppy Kai, this scraggy little ‘fox-like’ puppy was the smallest in the litter, the one that stood out the least to me, and the last one I would have picked. But... there was something about him, he just ‘felt right’, I assessed the whole litter…….Kai ticked all the boxes!
"So, our journey began.
"Every day he blew my mind with his ability to learn and his desire to please!
"He took everything in his stride, and in no time at all became a newly qualified fire investigation search dog, I was so proud!
"Every donation will help."
Kai lost his sight in January, where tests carried out to find out the cause of his retirement from the fire service found that the Belgian Shepherd’s retinas were found to have detached and his optic nerve had swollen.
Mat described Kai as “quite unsettled” in the first couple of days after going blind, with his tail tucked between his legs and not being up for playing with another of his dogs, a cocker spaniel named Jyn.
In February, Kai was put in palliative care after Mat did not want his beloved dog to have to endure operations, invasive treatments, and chemotherapy.
Before going blind, Kai was used to help sniff out flammable liquids at fire scenes once blazes were extinguished to see if accelerants had been used and arson committed in a role, that meant he relied on his nose just as much as his eyes.
One of only a handful of dogs trained in such work, it meant he travelled across the country despite being based with West Midlands Fire Service.
To donate visit the fundraising page at gofundme.com/f/in-memory-of-fire-dog-kai.
