Ned’s Wish was deeply saddened to learn of the recent passing of retired PSD Kato of the Saskatoon Police Service. Kato passed away peacefully in August 2024 surrounded by those who loved and cared for him.
Kato served and protected the citizens of Saskatoon for 7 years and had numerous victories catching criminals as a result of his exceptional tracking abilities. Kato was also certified in drug detection and he worked together with the tactical team in various operations.
One night in August 2015, Kato demonstrated the strength of his character, loyalty to his handler, and his dedication to the job. Kato tracked a fleeing criminal, who stole a vehicle and crashed it into another car, causing many injuries to its occupants. Kato tracked the criminal for several blocks, catching up to him as he was entering his own backyard. As Kato caught the suspect, he released three of his own dogs to attack Kato and his human handler. Despite being brutally attacked by three other dogs, Kato held onto the criminal, preventing him from escaping and bravely defended his handler, saving him from serious harm. Kato suffered multiple injuries to his neck and back legs inflicted by three other dogs but never let go. A heroic act to protect his human handler and to catch the bad guy. When Kato recovered, he returned to duty and continued to serve his city for several more years before retiring with honour and pride!
In his retirement Kato spent time with his family and continued to be their protector. Kato assistsed his mom during her ZOOM calls as Kato always puts himself in front of the zoom camera and his mom, whenever he heard another person talking during the meeting. Kato became more protective of his human sister when she became pregnant, as Kato would not leave her side. Once she had the twins and they began moving about, Kato stayed constantly around the babies as they played and crawled underneath him. Nobody would mess around with Kato-the-bodyguard!
Kato had muscle injuries to his back legs from work injuries, and arthritis in his hips and back, which is common in most working dogs. Despite his age of 14 years, overall Kato was healthy and happy during his retirement years. His comfort was supported through weekly laser and physiotherapy treatments to maximise his mobility.
In advising Ned’s Wish of Kato’s passing, his former handler, Insp. Edward Panamaroff, noted,
“I want to thank Ned’s Wish and everyone involved in this program. Having all his medical expenses covered allowed Kato to live a healthy, comfortable life for a long time, Ned’s Wish allowed us to have a lot of extra time to love Kato.”
Ned’s Wish were honoured to assist by supporting Kato as best we could.
Kato worked bravely and loyally alongside his partner to keep the city of Saskatoon safe. Kato will be greatly missed by his family but they know he is forever watchful.