Police dog team takes on arthritis

Stem cell treatment gives Jago the police K9 a second chance on force

By Christina Lent

The Beaverton Valley Times, Sep 27, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (2 Reader comments)

Jaime Valdez / Times Newspapers

Jago waits patiently inside the patrol car as his partner Officer Ken Magnus organizes the trunk before their patrol shift.

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Jago is a lucky dog.

Thanks to a new stem cell therapy, the highly trained German Shepherd was given a second chance to return to Beaverton’s police force.

For the past 2½ years, Jago has worked alongside Officer Ken Magnus as his K-9 partner and backup.

Together the team has captured more than three dozen suspects.

“He’s a great partner,” Magnus said. “He’s saved me a couple times from a physical fight.

“Just having him there is a huge deterrent. He loves to come to work. As soon as I pull into the back lot he’s whining and wanting to go to work.”

Their time together on the road patrolling Beaverton streets nearly came to an end earlier this year when Jago (pronounced YA-go) developed immune-mediated poly arthritis in his joints.

Magnus realized something was wrong with his partner after Jago took a hard fall Jan. 10 while tracking a home burglary suspect.

Jago leapt over a wall, went down hard and twisted his body. He got back up and continued the pursuit.

“I noticed he had trouble getting up from a laying down position,” Magnus recalled. “At first I thought he may just be sore, but within a week’s time it seemed to be getting worse.

“He would rock to the front of his paws, rock himself forward and push himself up. He got to the point where I had to physically pick him up off the floor because he couldn’t stand up on his own power.”

Concerned for his dog’s health, Magnus took him to different veterinarians and learned through testing that Jago had arthritis.

Doctors initially used medications to treat Jago.

“I was told that he may never come back or have to be on medication for the rest of his life,” Magnus said. “They started him with a high dose which helped the side effects, but when they tried to lower the dosage, he would get infections and start limping again.”

Jago had good days and bad days as doctors attempted different treatments.

“When he was feeling OK, I would bring him to work and use him for certain tasks,” Magnus said. “He was off and on the street the whole time he was undergoing treatment, but there was a lot of stuff we didn’t do.”

Patrol dogs on Beaverton’s K-9 Unit are trained to track and apprehend suspects that flee, trained in handler protection and in locating evidence.

“We invest a lot of time and training in these dogs because they are one of our greatest tools in law enforcement,” said Beaverton Police Chief David Bishop. “Their success in tracking and locating evidence is incredible.”

Jago’s condition made it difficult for him to perform long tracks and other tasks expected of him as a police dog.

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