Advertisement Police dogs armed with titanium teeth Share Shares Copy Link Copy

One Bellevue veterinarian takes care of some of the toughest, most valuable dogs in eastern Nebraska. Nearly a dozen police K-9’s are either current or former patients of Dr. Erich Rachwitz at Twin Creek Animal Hospital.Once a week, many of these dogs train together at one of several spots across the Omaha metro area. It doesn’t take long to see how effective they are. Jerry, one of four Bellevue Police service dogs, lunges at a ‘suspect’ and takes him down in just seconds. He then waits and watches that suspect patiently until his handler, Officer Chad Heller, signals Jerry to join him at his side.Behind every police service dog is intense training just like this, loyal partners just like Officer Heller, and a great vet.Service dogs from all over the metro area head to Twin Creek Animal Hospital for care to stay on the streets protecting their communities.“I absolutely love coming to work,” Dr. Erich Rachwitz told KETV Newswatch 7’s Brandi Petersen. “It's the best job in the world.”Dr. Rachwitz treats Jerry and Spike, both with Bellevue Police. He also treated Zeke, who is now retired from Bellevue.Dr. Rachwitz’s patient files also include Deuce, from Papillion, and prior to him, Kai. He treats Frankie from Ashland Police and Ela, who is now retired. He sees Francesco from Pottawattamie County, Jazz from Sarpy County and Diezel from Douglas County.As police K-9’s, the dogs face danger every day searching for drugs, tracking down suspects, and keeping their human partners and civilians safe. In an emergency, their handlers call Dr. Rachwitz.“We saw one the other day, he accidentally bit into a cocaine bag during training,” said Dr. Rachwitz. “It’s a little bit more like working in a zoo in that some of these dogs will let me approach them with them conscious. Some of them, after one or two visits realize I’m that guy.”To area police departments, Dr. Rachwitz has become ‘that guy’ for another reason. Police service dogs often break apart their teeth with so much intense training and work that typically deals with their mouths. Dr. Rachwitz can fix those problems.“I was quietly doing the kind of dentistry procedures that no one else cares to do,” said Dr. Rachwitz. KETV was allowed into a recent surgery involving Bellevue K-9 Jerry, in need of four titanium crowns. Or, as Dr. Rachwitz puts it, ‘blinging out’ the dog.Keeping dogs like Jerry working saves police departments and taxpayers money.“If we can't protect the teeth, he can't do his job,” explained Officer Heller. “So we have to retire him. Then we in turn have to replace him with a new dog and that becomes pretty expensive for the city.”“Some of these dogs are probably worth thousands, 20-thousand dollars,” said Dr. Rachwitz. “They're a valuable animal for multiple reasons. But a lot of these dogs go home to a little kid that just thinks they're the family dog.”Twin Creek Animal Hospital offers many services for police service dogs at no cost to the departments. There is a charge for some of the dental work, like the titanium crowns. Officer Heller told KETV the Bellevue Police Department budgets for the dogs’ medical care and food, but they also rely on private donations.To learn more about the K-9 Unit with the Bellevue Police Department, visit their website or the Bellevue Police K-Unit on Facebook. For information regarding donations, call 402-293-3100.To learn more about Twin Creek Animal Hospital and Dr. Erich Rachwitz, visit their website or Facebook page.