St. Tammany K-9 deputy Thor returns to duty

COVINGTON, LA (WGNO) — The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday (Jan. 7) that a trained police dog that was seriously injured while apprehending a suspect last October is now back on duty.

Deputies say Thor just completed four weeks of vigorous training and testing.  They say he is now on full duty, loving his job of protecting the people of St. Tammany Parish, and enjoying all the attention and dog treats received during his recovery.

Thor was stabbed by a burglary suspect during a chase in a subdivision near Interstate 12 and Highway 1088.  Deputies say that as a woman was driving into her driveway, she saw two men walking out of her home with some of her valuables.  She called deputies who spotted the suspects’ car.  After a short chase, the suspects jumped out of the car and took off running.  One suspect, identified as Dean Perkins, was quickly arrested.  But deputies spent most of that afternoon searching for the other.

When Thor and another deputy located the suspect, they say the man lunged at them with a knife.  Thor sustained serious cuts to his neck and one shoulder.  The suspect, identified as Darien Greenwood of Covington, was shot and killed.

At the scene that day, Sheriff Jack Strain made it clear that the dog may have saved the deputy’s life.

“The deputy believes, had it not been for the K-9 Thor, this individual would have killed him.  He was that close and attempting to stab him. His exact words to me were this K-9 Thor pulled him away, and that’s when he started stabbing K9 Thor.  And that’s when the deputies fired on him,” Strain told reporters.

Thor’s care included at least one surgery.  In the days following his injury, veterinarians at the Med Vet Medical and Cancer Centers for Pets in Mandeville said his recovery would be day-to-day.  At one point, deputies were concerned Thor might require a transfusion just to survive.

“Where the trauma is located, there’s a very good chance that he should be able to recover from this and hopefully be able to get back on the streets,” Dr. David Kergosien told reporters after operating on the dog.

The story gets even more interesting when you consider Thor’s previous work with the same deputy handler.  In 2014, the pair was chasing a suspect through a wooded area along the Bogue Falaya River.  The suspect grabbed Thor and tried to drown him, but the dog’s two-legged partner rushed to arrest the man and save Thor’s life.  So Sheriff Strain said his K-9 deputy returned the favor while apprehending Greenwood.

St. Tammany Deputies say support for Thor and his recovery arrived from all over the world on the department’s Facebook page.  Within days, it was clear the dog would survive.

In fact, a crowd of supporters showed up for what was called a “Welcome Home Rally” for Thor at the St. Tammany Parish Justice Center in Covington.  Parish President Pat Brister presented Thor and his deputy partner with a proclamation naming October 23, 2015, as Deputy Thor Day.  But while it was clear Thor would recover, his future return to the department remained uncertain at the time.