Wethersfield Holds Memorial Service for Police Dog

A memorial service was held Thursday for Thor, a 3-year-old Wethersfield police dog that died from injuries sustained while pursuing a kidnapping suspect and several officers paid their respects.

Thor died Nov. 22 from injuries sustained when Wethersfield Police were responding to a call about a woman who was abducted from Hartford and being held in a motel on the Silas Deane Highway, near Executive Square.

Thor started chasing the suspect and his handler lost sight of him, police said.  

During the search, Thor got separated from his handler, Officer Nuno Martins.

Two hours later, a state trooper found Thor in a river, submerged to his chest.  

"He was found in a river, submerged up to the chest," Dr. Ben March, of Pieper Olson Connecticut Valley Veterinary Associates in Middletown, said.

Thor was shivering and had icicles on him, March said.

Thor received a blood transfusion, but somehow he got a blood clot and died, police said. 

At first, police thought the kidnapping suspect might have kicked Thor, but the veterinarian thought he might have fallen in the woods.

An ultrasound determined that Thor died of injuries related to the search.

On Thursday, Martins was presented a flag for Thor's service as well as a citation from the General Assembly and a memorial plaque.

Thor spent two years as a canine police officer. 

“His dedication, his loyalty, enthusiasm, his tenacity was above and beyond what we would expect out of another dog. He just that’s all he wanted to do was his job,” Wethersfield Police Chief, James Cetran, said Thursday.

Wethersfield police plan to place a monument at the police station to honor all canines with the department, including fallen K9 officers and those that die of natural causes. 

Officers found the suspect in a thicket

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