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Houma Police and Sgt. Jeff Lirette lost a compassionate, dedicated co-worker, partner and friend.
Agency K-9 officer Rex died Aug. 27 in his kennel. A necropsy performed at Louisiana State University Animal Hospital in Baton Rouge revealed the 6-year-old animal died of gastric torsion, according to authorities.
Since 2011, Rex, a Belgian-Malinois/German Shepard mix, served in various situations, narcotics searches, apprehensions and public demonstrations. He’d worked outside Houma Police, assisting with the Louisiana State Police and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
According to Lirette, who partnered with the Belgian-Malinois/German Shepard mix for most of the dog’s life, the K-9’s greatest talent was ability to adjust his personality to fit the situation.
“He always knew when it was time to go to work,” Sgt. Lirette said. “He was a very high-drive dog, always going 100 miles per hour.”
The “high-drive” made Rex a good officer, his partner said, but his people skills made him a great cop.
“He was never one of those dogs that I could not bring people around,” Lirette said. “He was very sociable and very compassionate.
“I just know Rex was very instrumental in our work,” he added. “The thing he loved most was going to the schools and visiting those kids.”
A K-9’s day is not spent entirely chasing bad guys. Lirette and Rex were regulars in Houma neighborhoods and schools. Anytime the pair could make a difference in someone’s life, especially children, Rex was up for the challenge.
“Most kids in the neighborhoods we patrol have negative thoughts and contact with the police because of things they’ve heard or through past experiences,” Lirette said. “I tried to use Rex as a positive way to make connections with kids.”
The duo visited schools, demonstrating Rex’s drug-sniffing skills and talking about the hazards of drug abuse. Afterward, the officer and his K-9 visited special education classes. It would soon become a ritual.
Rex thrived on training, hide-and-seek and other search games. Communing with youngsters was new, however.
“Training him for work was easy,” Lirette explained. “The other part with the kids was not something I trained him to do. He just fell into that.
“There was just something special about Rex. He allowed those kids to pet him and touch him to make them feel like they were accomplishing something by petting a police dog.”
Doggedly determined and focused on the job, Lirette said his K-9 partner always knew when to tone it down and be a soft, lovable dog, which made him a loving member of the Lirette family.
“He would roll in the mud and play,” the officer’s daughter, Macie, fondly recalled. “When he was a home, he was a different dog than he was at work.”
Losing Rex was like losing a brother, the 17-year-old said.
“He was very protective of me,” she said. “He was very loving and sweet. He was a good friend. I felt like I could talk to him. Maybe it is weird, but I felt like he understood what I was saying.
“We just got really close, so seeing him pass away was hard.”
Rex’s leisure time was spent playing fetch in the backyard. Lirette recalled Rex running around and jumping over the lawnmower as he mowed, dropping toys in front of the machine and preventing Lirette from advancing.
The two-legged cop would have to stop, walk to the toy, pick it up and throw it, much to the delight of his four-legged partner.
“I have not been in my backyard since we found him,” Lirette said. “I just can’t get myself to go back there.”
K-9 Officer Rex was with the Houma Police Department for 3-plus years.
