Portage police K-9 officer killed Yorkie at local festival

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In a heartbreaking tragedy, a Portage police K-9 officer attacked a small Yorkie on Saturday at a local festival. The Yorkie named Bandit, died as a result of his injuries.

Officer Flora Ryan and her partner, K-9 Nyx had been assisting with the K-9 unit booth at the Indiana festival. While Nyx had been relaxing on the lawn and Officer Ryan had been next to him lying down, Miles and Kerry Mavrovic and Bandit had been walking out of the festival. Suddenly Bandit barked, and Nyx went running over to the small dog and grabbed him.

According to the NwiTimes, Ryan ran over and was able to get Nyx to release his hold. Bandit had been bleeding from the ear, and at the time there were no other apparent injuries. Tragically, when Bandit was taken to two different veterinarian hospitals, the little dog had suffered severe internal injuries and died.

On the department’s K9 Facebook page, Nyx was described,

“Nyx is a 22 month old female Belgian Malinois/German Shepherd cross breed.  She was bred/born in Poland and arrived in the United States in August 2017 at F.M. K9.  Nyx is a dual purpose narcotics/utility K9.  She is capable of detecting narcotics, tracking suspects or lost children/elderly subjects, recovering articles from crimes, locating and apprehending fleeing suspects either indoors or outdoors.

We work hard, we play hard, we train hard…to be the best team we can be.”

Miles and Kerry Mavrovic are devastated by the death of Bandit, but have a different version of what happened, stating Bandit did not bark and the attack by Nyx had been unprovoked. Chief Williams reached out on the department’s Facebook to apologize for the terrible tragedy.

“If I’m going to post all our successes, true transparency also involves those times we fail as well. Our sincerest condolences go out to the Mavrovic family!! A very sad and unfortunate accident.

Chief Troy Williams”

Although Ryan did not have a good grip on her dog’s leash, Chief Troy Williams has decided Nyx will no longer be used as a Portage Police K9.

Rest in peace Bandit.

(Photo of Bandit submitted)

Read more animal news on the National Pet Rescue Facebook page.

Yesterday in the news: Horribly neglected dog brought to shelter in a basket…he was too far gone to save. More here.

Outrageous! Mother bear and her cub killed after hunter was attacked – more here.

Newly rescued dog is so grateful to be freed from chain!


This dog lived a horrific life of misery on the streets – but look at her now!


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14 COMMENTS

  1. This is a sad thing, and can’t find the right words to say. Rest in peace bandit where you are surrounded with all the love from the angels!

    • Yes, the dogs are “highly trained” in an atmosphere of violence (towards them). It’s a matter of encouraging aggression, and instilling fear.

      Still, there are dogs in every population which are more inclined to attack other dogs and animals. Early socialization is important.

  2. I certainly hope the police dept is covering the vet expenses and that the human officer is reprimanded and no longer allowed to work with the K9s.
    My deepest condolences to Bandit’s family. The police should also cover all adoption and vet fees for the family if and when they decide to get another dog even though nothing will replace Bandit. I am a big supporter of our police officers and accidents and mistakes happen but let’s do the right thing, guys!

    • Well said Dino’s Mom,.
      I agree wholeheartedly. Law enforcement dogs do wonderful work, but if they err on duty it is time for retirement, and yes, the PD should cover all of the expenses for Bandir’s family even though it will do little to contemplate their loss. Nyx’ human partner Officer should definitely be disciplined. It’s one thing to take a rest break, it’s another entirely to reduce her control of K9 Nysa to do so.

  3. Our friends had large GSD’s that absolutely went after ALL small animals in their “reach”: cats, squirrels, chipmunks, birds of all types……. & smaller dogs…… they were NOT playing with these other creatures, they were killing them…..

    These dogs were muzzled at all times when they were not in their home yard.

    Animals can be unpredictable and the hunting instinct is still in dogs (usually doesn’t show because they are often very well fed)…… we don’t know (& will never know as these dogs were eventually put down by our friends for health reasons) why these particular dogs were such nasty killers. I wouldn’t have wanted them as my pets because I would have been afraid of them……

    All of my pets (dogs, cats, horses) have friendly dispositions (& if they were problematic, I would have trained them until I & their trainer believed the problem behavior was fully corrected)…..

    This police canine probably needs more training (especially if she had never before shown any problem behavior near smaller animals). Until she can be trained more completely, best she is NOT a police canine.

    RIP Bandit. Your life mattered and you were very beloved by your family. You deserve justice (& the dog who killed you will no longer be in a position to harm anyone else). Please look for MacKitty in Heaven….. you will be welcome to join his group of snuggle buddies……

  4. This is heartbreaking, many of you know I am a defender of Police K-9’s but every so often something like this happens and you have to wonder why. Did the little dog bark? Having had German Shepherds for many years I do know that these little dogs can torment the heck out of the bigger dogs and even if this one didn’t, possibly the K-9 had come into contact with a small dog that had tormented him and took it out on this one. Obviously the police dog was trustworthy enough to be allowed to help with the police booth at the festival, and was used in search and rescue, so why K-9 Nyx snapped, we will probably never know. My heart goes out to the Mavrovics for the loss of their little Bandit. My heart goes out to Officer Ryan, I’m sure she wishes she had had a better grip on the leash, sometimes all you can do is shake your head and wonder why?

  5. RIP Bandit. Your life was taken in such a tragic way. Prayers and sympathies to your family. You remind me so much of my late girl Brandi. If K9 Nyx was properly trained she should have been under voice command and stopped before she attacked. I’m sure this wasn’t the case with K9 Nyx, but I have always thought that large dogs who attack small dogs might mistake them for the fluffy stuffed toys they love to play with.

    • It says in the report that Bandit did bark, but for a fully trained
      K-9, thst shoukd never have been an issue. Just like Mountrd Police Horses, these dogs are trained to be fully focussed in every possible situation – crowd noise, gunshot, vehicle noise, the loudest to softest human voice and anything else you could think of. Bottom line sadly, Officer Ryan was not in full control of K-9 Nyx’ leash/harness, otherwise this horrible event would not have occurred.

      • These dogs are supposed to be very well trained and when the dog took off, the officer should have been able to recall the dog by voice command. Even my basically trained German Shepherds, would return if I were to give their recall command, I don’t know what happened here, why this dog decided it wanted to go after the little dog, and why the handler wasn’t able to stop the charge. It’s just a horrible occurrence for everybody. Nobody wants to see a little dog killed like this by any other dog let alone one that is supposed to be trained to serve and protect.

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