File Photo by Howard Owens.
Frankie, the faithful K-9 used for tracking and other law enforcement duties for the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office for the last four years, will now follow in his handler’s footsteps.
Deputy Sheriff Andrew Mullen resigned his position and has asked to take Frankie with him, Sheriff William Sheron said during Monday’s Public Service Committee meeting.
Mullen has been Frankie’s handler for about three years, and the dog apparently has some separation anxiety and has suffered other past medical issues, Sheron said.
“Our handler has resigned; he's going to be moving out of state. He's asked that he be able to retain Frankie as a pet,” Sheron said. “We looked at it very long and thoroughly, and Frankie is now over seven years old. The duration for a canine is roughly six to nine years. By the time we try to train him with another handler and the past experience we've had with Frankie, with some health issues he has, actually anxiety, we had to spend quite a bit of money because the handler went away for a couple of weeks and the dog actually had issues, we feel it's best that we retire Frankie and turn him over to him.”
He asked that Frankie be retired from police work and donated as a pet to Mullen, with the understanding that Frankie will not be involved in any future police work at any law enforcement agency.
Sheron was asked if he planned to replace Frankie.
“Possibly in the future, not immediately,” he said.
Committee members agreed with the request, and it will be passed on to the Ways and Means Committee and to the county Legislature for final approval.
Frankie was named in honor of Deputy Frank G. Bordonaro, who died on July 8, 2014. In addition to proving skilled as a tracker, Frankie was also trained in narcotics detection, evidence recovery, building searches and apprehension and handler protection.
A Belgian Malinois assigned to Mullen in September 2020, Frankie suffered a fractured tooth during his time with the sheriff’s office and was out of commission for a few weeks after it was removed, and he got an infection. Frankie's first assignment was with Deputy Chris Erion starting in 2019. Erion retired in July 2020.
Over the years, Frankie and his fellow K-9s have drawn attention from fans through demonstrations of their intense training and donations to help offset costs for an obstacle course, protective vests, physical therapy and other veterinarian needs that have gone into a K-9 Donation Reserve Account.
From now on, Frankie will be taking it easy with his best friend and not worrying so much about the bad guys.
As part of the official protocol, the county attorney has been consulted with regard to this disposition of K-9 Frankie, and a memorandum of understanding and release was prepared to properly outline this disposition, the resolution states. There is no cost associated with the donation of K-9 Frankie.
