The Maryland State Police is paying tribute to a deputy killed earlier this month, naming its newest K-9 after him.
The 10-week-old bloodhound puppy was named Dailey to honor fallen Harford County Senior Deputy Patrick Daily, who was shot and killed in Abingdon on Feb. 10 while responding to a call about a wanted man at a Panera, according to The Bel Air Patch.
The dog's handler, Sgt. Rick Kelly, told the news outlet that a second K-9 will be named after Deputy First Class Mark Logsdon, who was killed in the same incident as Dailey.
"I went this past Sunday to pick [the puppy] up and on the way home, I was reflecting on the past week, and it just hit me," Kelly. "I want to pay my respects somehow to Pat and Mark, and Dailey just hit me."
Kelly worked at the Bel Air Barrack for three years and said that he knew Deputy Dailey from his time there.
"If you worked in Harford County, you knew Pat," He said. He’d come to the barrack all the time. The man was just a class act. You can’t get a man better than that."
Kelly's relative who works for the Harford County Sheriff's Office made sure it would be OK with the Dailey family for him to name the K-9-in-training.
The new bloodhound will not officially get to work until September, but will be partnering Kelly now, whose current K-9 -- named Dixie -- is retiring at the end of the summer after 10 years of service.
Dixie will continue to live with Kelly and so will Dailey.
