Azzy’s finder gets praise from city
Published 10:05 am Friday, March 24, 2017
- Azzy, back in the care of her handler, BPD K9 officer Greg Jones (left), is oblivious to the commotion that arose following her disappearance March 7. George Dickson spotted Azzy after her photo was posted on Facebook, and called her to him. Dickson’s fiance, Carmen Carwile (right) joined him for the city’s presentation of a letter of commendation.
Azzy’s finder gets praise from city
At the City Hall presentation ceremony following K-9 Officer Azzy’s safe return were (from left) Officer Greg Jones, BPD Chief Jimmy McCloud, Carmen Carwile, George Dickson and Mayor Jerry Autrey.
However, when Azzy was out-of-town and unavailable to help track burglars the next day, Panola County Deputy Sheriff Britton Crawfors brought his dog, Kantor, to lead them to the stolen property and suspects. (Story below).
—The Panolian photos by John Howell
Azzy, back in the care of her handler, BPD K9 officer Greg Jones (left), is oblivious to the commotion that arose following her disappearance March 7. George Dickson spotted Azzy after her photo was posted on Facebook, and called her to him. Dickson’s fiance, Carmen Carwile (right) joined him for the city’s presentation of a letter of commendation.
By John Howell
Everybody loves a good dog story, especially when there is a happy ending.
Azzy’s story came to the end of an interesting chapter Tuesday when Batesville’s board of mayor and aldermen commended George Dickson of Courtland for his role in reuniting the trained police dog with her handler, BPD Patrolman Greg Jones.
Many Batesville youngsters first became acquainted with Jones when he visited local schools and kindergartens with “Chip,” the dog who formerly partnered with the K-9 officer. (There are undoubtedly others who met Chip and Jones in a more serious official capacity, but this is not their story.)
When Chip reached retirement age, the city sold him to his handler, Jones, for one dollar. Chip is now enjoying retirement at Jones’ home.
Azzy, Chip’s replacement, was purchased by the Batesville Police Department last fall. Azzy has been highly trained in a variety of skills, primarily narcotics detection, that utilize her keen sense of smell. But she’s still a dog and when Jones stopped his patrol vehicle about 10:30 p.m. March 7 and released her for a leg-stretching break, she could not resist bounding off in pursuit of a deer that bolted up nearby at the instant Azzy hit the ground.
Azzy’s full-speed disappearance into the night left Jones frantically searching and calling, a search that he continued non-stop until Police Chief Jimmy McCloud made him go home for rest at 5 p.m. the following day. Other officers and volunteers searched the area surrounding the Batesville Civic Center where she was last seen; Facebook messages were posted with her photo; the mayor called a special board meeting for Thursday morning to authorize a reward for her recovery.
About 2 a.m. Thursday morning, George Dickson of Courtland was returning home from work in Oxford when he stopped by the Batesville Walmart, near the civic center. In the parking lot, he spotted Azzy, hanging around in her police vest, just as he had seen on Facebook.
So he called her; she came, and then he called the police department.
“Animals just come up to him; he has a way with them, said Carmen Carwile, Dickson’s financé who accompanied him to the city board meeting.
Dickson said Tuesday that he has two dogs of his own.
“We got frantic there for awhile,” Mayor Jerry Autrey said, prior to presenting Dickson with a letter of commendation from the city. “We thought we’d lost our best pal.”
After Azzy posed for a photo with Jones, Dickson and Carwile, she her handler returned home to check on Chip.
