ALLENTOWN, Pa. — "It's with a very heavy heart," begins the Facebook post about former arson K-9 Judge, the yellow lab.
Nothing good ever comes after that.
Hearts broke all over Judge's Facebook page when former Allentown Fire Chief Lee Laubach announced the beloved pup died early Friday, only 12 days before his 15th birthday.
Condolences were full of remembrances of Judge's life including words like "Hero," "Honor to meet you," "Sweet boy" and "Angel."
Judge served as an arson K-9 with the Allentown Fire Department from 2011-18. Since his retirement, he’s lived with his handler and best friend Laubach.
In his honor, the Dixon Street Dog Park in South Allentown was renamed last fall after Allentown City Council passed a resolution renaming it as the Judge Memorial Dog Park.
Judge was chosen 2016 Arson Dog of the Year at the annual American Humane Hero Dog Awards.
He “thrived” in investigation — searching 275 fire scenes during his career — as well as deterrence and education, according to a memo Allentown Parks and Recreation Director Mandy Tolino wrote to city council.
The evidence Judge helped fire officials collect led to the arrests of more than a dozen people, and arson incidents in Allentown dropped by more than 50% during his career with the fire department, Laubach said in a video by American Humane.
Judge was a life-assistance dog before he had a “career change” and became an arson investigator, Laubach told Allentown students in the video. Laubach and Judge made countless visits to local schools and events to teach about fire safety.
“It’s tough to put a number on how many lives Judge has saved because of all the education he does with all the schools he goes into,” then-Allentown Police Capt. Tony Alsleben said in the video.
"I will miss the big guy and his big personality," the post reads. "He touched a lot of lives."
