Full Notification

The Green Bay Police Department will be holding a press conference with Pyro and his handler on Monday, April 22nd. Pyro sustained horrific injuries while apprehending a male who threatened to shoot his father a few short weeks ago on Sunday, April 7th. During that apprehension he was stabbed at least 3 times in the neck and officers were very concerned that he would die as a result of those injuries.

His handler, Officer Scott Salzmann very quickly provided immediate life saving measures, including the use of a hemostatic (rapid clotting) agent. These actions were made possible by Officer Salzmann having a K9 trauma medical kit. Pyro was then rushed to Bay East Animal Hospital where he received additional treatment from Dr. Margaret Eastman, who then accompanied Pyro in an ambulance to the Animal Referral Center of the Fox Valley for emergency surgeries. Pyro had to undergo multiple surgeries to repair nasty wounds to his neck, carotid artery, and esophagus, and also had to undergo emergency surgery to repair a flipped stomach.

Chief Smith was quoted saying, “In addition to being one tough dog, Pyro was also blessed to have a quick thinking handler, a trauma kit, ambulance transport, and excellent emergency veterinary care. If any one of those components would have been missing, Pyro likely would not have survived.”

Since his surgeries, Pyro was provided with round the clock care at the Animal Referral Center before being released to go home approximately 1 week after the incident. Since that time has continued to make amazing recovery progress as evidenced by his coming in for a quick visit to the department on Thursday, April 18th. Some photos of that visit are available on the department’s Facebook page.

Credentialed members of the media are invited to join us for Pyro's first public appearance on Monday, April 22nd at 2:15pm at the Green Bay Police Department. More information on his remarkable recovery and Pyro’s next steps will be released at that time.

Please direct any inquiries to that press conference.