On Feb. 10, officers from the Hinesville Police Department, Liberty County Sheriff’s Office and surrounding law enforcement communities came together and paid their respect to HPD K-9 Officer Zorza.
“It is with a heavy heart that today the Hinesville Police Department lays to rest one of our most loyal and loved officers, retired K9 Zorza,” the City of Hinesville posted in a release. “K9 Zorza was a member of our department from May 25th, 2009 until his retirement in 2017.” K9 Zorza served as a tracking dog to search for fleeing suspects, lost children, and helped locate lost individuals with diminished mental capacity. At the ceremony K9 Zorza’s partner, Cpl. Jerry Britting, retired was given Zorza’s ashes and was visibly moved to tears.
“Having Zorza was the best experience in my life besides my kids and grandchildren,” Britting said after the ceremony.
Zorza lived with Cpl. Britting and his family in Hinesville until his passing on January 26th, 2021.
“Over the 12 years that we worked together he became more of a family member to me and a lot of people in my family,” Britting said. “He was handler dependent which meant that in his mind he was totally dependent on me so he followed me everywhere and would not let me out of his sight…we did everything together.”
Zorza retired on Jan. 9, 2017 due to medical issues from work he did for the community. Britting stayed on the force but soon realized he missed his partner.
“I just couldn’t be the police without my partner,” he said. “Zorza meant a lot to me. I retired in 2018…he was already home with me and we did the normal stuff a man and a dog would do.”
But the workload Zorza endured along with what started as mild hip dysplasia soon took its toll. On Jan. 26, Britting said he made the most difficult decision of his life. In order to keep Zorza from more pain he was euthanized.
“I made a decision that I still regret to this day because I miss him,” Britting said in tears.
Britting recalled an incident about his earlier days with Zorza.
“We were working a burglary in progress here in town and we hadn’t been together too long,” he said. “The key word they taught me was trust your dog…but we were tracking for about a mile and a half and I was starting to get a little unconfident in his ability. He started going after these two teenagers that were near a mobile home.” Britting said he stopped Zorza thinking he was wrong. “But all of a sudden he yanked on me...he found 99 percent of the stolen items...Come to find out that the teenagers were two of the five suspects. later identified and arrested.”
While a member of HPD Zorza occasionally assisted with the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, Long County and Ware County.
“This is a sad day for the City of Hinesville, the Hinesville Police Department, Cpl. Britting and his family, but let us celebrate the life of K9 Zorza and know that he is now resting peacefully,” The city release stated. “You will be missed K9 Zorza. We love you. It is time to rest now, we got it from here.”