Charleston Police Officer John Bennett saved his former crime-fighting partner and man’s best friend, Rex, from being put to sleep.

Rex, former K-9 for the Charleston Police Department, has been adopted by his trainer, Bennett.

Once a police dog is too old to perform safe active duty, it must either be adopted by its trainer or put to sleep.

“I had to sign an agreement saying that liability would be on me rather than the city,” Bennett said.

This ‘hold harmless’ agreement made Bennett the complete owner of Rex, taking on all ownership responsibilities.

Since fall 1994, Bennett and Rex have been acquainted through work. After more than eight years of service for the Charleston Police Department, Rex’s time on duty has ended.

In Jan. 1995, Rex began active duty following a 14-week basic training course. Aside from the basic training, training is ongoing through the entire time a police dog serves, Bennett said.

“Rex did a lot of drug work, vehicle and residence searches and tracking,” Bennett said.

Rex was active in tracking and evidence searching. He once found a hidden knife that was used to threaten an individual in a mobile home park.

Charleston’s drug task force also found Rex to be an asset. The force was watching a marijuana growth in a Moultrie corn field, waiting for the planters to harvest.

When the planters arrived, they abandoned their vehicle in a corn field and fled through a bean field. The task force lost sight of the criminals, but Rex recovered a map in the bean field.

“The map was stashed under some beans,” Bennett said. “It led us to the suspects.”

This was only one of many situations where Rex was helpful in retrieving criminals during his service with the police department.

However, as a safety precaution for Rex, police officers and citizens, Rex’s K-9 position reached its end when he began showing signs of weakness.

“His agility was down, and there was a change in his running and jumping,” Bennett said.

Injuries may occur when a K-9 is not at its peak performance.

Despite his slight changes in conditioning that came with age, leading to his dismissal, Rex’s effect on the department will not age. He left with a record of great benefits to Charleston.

“His drive was still there, and his spirit will be around long after he is gone,” Bennett said.

Toward the end of Rex’s service, a replacement dog began training for the department. Blitz, who began service in December, was trained by Chad Reed. Reed showed interest in training the next K-9 for quite some time, Bennett said.

Bennett said he would have trained the next K-9 if Reed had not been interested.

“He’s sitting here with me now,” Bennett said about the dog whom he recently adopted from the city of Charleston.

Rex is about 11 years old now and still very healthy.

“I hope to have him around for at least another five years,” Bennett said.