By Joanna Putman
Police1
LIBERTY COUNTY, Ga. — An investigation has been launched after a retired K-9 from the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office was surrendered to an animal shelter, WJCL reported.
Deputy Trevon Tolson surrendered the dog, named Kona, to the shelter on April 29, an action that was neither approved nor known by Sheriff William Bowman, according to the report.
“Sheriff (William) Bowman would not agree to, and had no prior knowledge of, the retired canine being treated in this manner,” the sheriff’s office stated. “The well-being and proper care of all canines, both active and retired, is of the utmost importance to the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, and any allegations of mistreatment or neglect are taken very seriously.”
Following this incident, Tolson was reassigned to the patrol division, his duties as a K-9 handler were suspended and his K-9 partner was reassigned to another handler according to the report.
Kona, who had been released to Tolson’s care upon retirement on December 20, 2023, was adopted by a man who said he has experience with trained K-9s the day after being surrendered.
This case emerges amidst another internal investigation involving the K-9 unit’s supervisors, Lt. Corey Nadeau and Sgt. David Abbgy, who resigned after being accused of forging training documents to recertify the department’s K-9s, according to the report. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is now involved, and criminal charges are being considered.
“It was a mistake that me and my Lieutenant made trusting that instructor… We thought we were doing the right thing and unfortunately, we paid for it.” Abbgy stated. “We worry day in, day out about the care of our dogs.”
