A picture of K-9 Edo, his cremains and his badge rode in Marietta Police Patrolman Glen McClelland’s vehicle Thursday morning in a procession in honor of the dog, who passed away last month. Edo served as a dual-purpose K-9 for the department from 2014 to 2020. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

MARIETTA — Marietta Police K-9 Edo’s bark was worse than his bite — or at least more frequent.

“Very rarely do we actually have to apprehend someone,” said Patrolman Glen McClelland, the handler for Edo, a Belgian shepherd who passed away last month. “We don’t just release them on anybody.”

Police Chief Katherine Warden was on duty when McClelland did release Edo to catch a felony suspect who had assaulted an officer.

“I was there for his first bite on duty, and it was something else,” she said. “Edo chased him down and tackled him.”

Often the dog’s presence served as a deterrent, McClelland said. And sometimes that was augmented by the barks Edo often issued in the cruiser.

Marietta Police officers salute as a procession honoring retired K-9 Edo arrives in front of the city building on Putnam Street Thursday. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

But it was only something he did on the job.

“To the day he died, he never once barked in the house,” McClelland said.

Officers from the department and their counterparts from agencies on both sides of the Ohio River gathered with city officials and employees Thursday to say farewell to Edo, who was euthanized last month after developing tumors and suffering mini-strokes.

As nearly a dozen police cruisers came to a stop in front of the city building on Putnam Street, a dispatcher announced over the police radio that “K-9 Edo has answered his final call.

“Rest easy,” she said. “We’ll take it from here.”

Marietta Police K-9 Edo demonstrate suspect apprehension during a Marietta Noon Lions dinner event in 2018. (File Photo)

Edo was a dual-purpose K-9, trained in suspect apprehension as well as narcotics detection, tracking, article search, building search and area search. He joined the department in 2014 and served until he was injured on the job in 2020.

After Edo retired, McClelland purchased him for $1 and Edo continued to live with his handler.

Edo adjusted well to life as “just a dog, home security,” said McClelland, a 26-year member of the department and K-9 handler since 2003. “He loved playing ball. He was all about the toys.”

He also loved to work, McClelland said.

“He was my buddy,” McClelland’s wife Nicole said. “I work from home mostly, and he laid in my office with me. He loved belly rubs and treats.”

Nicole McClelland, whose husband was K-9 Edo’s handler, displays a quilt made in the dog’s honor by Pam Decker Knapp of Columbus after a Thursday procession to the Marietta city building. Edo passed away last month after serving the Marietta Police Department from 2014 to 2020. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

Warden said the K-9 program is a vital part of the department’s operations.

“He’s technically a sworn officer, and we’re sorry to lose him,” she said. “These working dogs are valued members of our department. They’re part of the team.”

The department’s K-9s are supported by a fund established by the late Warren Local Schools art teachers Sylvia and Sandra Young, Warden said.

McClelland continues to serve as a K-9 handler, working with both Grando, a dual-purpose dog and Edo’s buddy, and Lulu, a bloodhound. A nationally certified K-9 instructor, he’s getting ready to train a new handler and K-9 this fall.

Marietta Police were joined in Thursday’s procession by officers from the Washington and Monroe County Sheriff’s offices, Ohio State Highway Patrol and Logan Police Department, as well as the Wood County Sheriff’s Department and Parkersburg and Vienna Police Departments.

The Marietta Police Department vehicle driven by Patrolman Glen McClelland leads a procession in honor of his late K-9 partner Edo Thursday morning on Putnam Street in Marietta. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.