At the ripe old dog age of 11, a police dog named Jack "retired" from the ranks of the Fukuoka prefectural police in June 2015. 

Hidefumi Koga, 64, who was a member of the police identification division at the time, adopted the German shepherd. 

"I wanted him to be freer, telling him it was fine to bark because there was no training anymore," Koga said.

Distressed to see their partners of many years pulled from active duty due to age, some Fukuoka prefectural police officers like Koga have welcomed police dogs into their homes.

The officers not only ensure the canines enjoy their golden years, but also treat them as family members.

However, it would not be easy to provide nursing care until the end of their lives without a deep bond between the handlers and the animals. 

REUNITED AFTER MORE THAN A DECADE

Koga and Jack met in around 2003, when the dog was about 3 months old.

While staying in the same room with Koga, Jack went through training for search operations to become a full-fledged member of the police force.

Koga was reunited with Jack, who was 11 by then, in the spring of 2015, when the officer was reassigned to the division after he was transferred to another position.

At the time, the canine would be in his 80s in human years. 

With his legs weakened by age, it had become difficult for the dog to join search operations. Jack was seen spending more and more time in his kennel.

Having spent nearly 30 years working with police dogs, Koga has taken care of many of them until their deaths at police facilities.

He often tended to police dogs unable to perform their duties, massaging the bladder to stimulate urination into a diaper and turning the dog from one side to another once every hour to prevent bedsores.

Koga said it was particularly painful for him to see bedridden dogs also try to stand up out of habit as other police dogs start barking all at once in the kennel when his division receives an emergency call for service.

When it happened, Koga told the dogs to stay calm since they were on house-sitting duty.

He wanted to keep them free from work tension.

When Koga explained why he wanted Jack to retire, saying how they endured hardships together and how much he wanted the aging dog to spend the rest of his life in peace, none of his colleagues objected.

His dog-loving wife also welcomed the idea.

The couple had already made their home more soundproof and had updated the air conditioning system, in addition to remodeling the house so that Jack could walk around freely.

After Koga adopted Jack, he let the dog play as much as he wanted, taking him to a beach for a swim and a walk along the shore.

Jack died the following summer.

‘ADOPTED’ BY POLICE OFFICERS

In late June, another police dog retired from the Fukuoka prefectural police.

Kotaro, a 10-year-old German shepherd, was adopted by Shinji Kurihara, 48, a member of the police dog unit who spent six years with the canine.

For Kurihara, Kotaro was almost like a teacher to him when he was sent to many crime scenes with the dog as a fledgling member of the identification division.

Kotaro eventually became his partner as the officer accumulated experience.

"He'll be my child from now on," Kurihara said with a smile.

In Japan, there are two kinds of police dogs.

Those directly kept and managed by police are known as "chokkatsu-ken," or directly controlled dogs. Jack was one of them.

Others are kept by civilians and dispatched at the request of police while they undergo a screening procedure every year. They are referred to as "shokutaku-ken," or commissioned dogs.

Nearly half of police forces across the country keep a total of about 160 chokkatsu-ken dogs under the funding of the central government.

When they become unable to perform their duties due to old age or poor health, they will be allowed to be substituted out when an application is filed with the central government.

With no retirement system in place, prefectural governments take care of chokkatsu-ken dogs after they leave the service.

Not all police dogs can spend their retirement years in private homes, however.

The Animal Protection Law stipulates efforts must be made to keep animals throughout their lives, according to Toshikazu Murakami, 58, head of the police dog unit of the identification division.

For that reason, it is difficult to transfer former police dogs to people other than police personnel even after they are retired from active duty.

Many police officers are also not allowed to have pets because they live in apartment housing complexes.

"Still, I think it would be best (for police dogs) to be adopted by police officers with whom they have spent so many years," Murakami said. "We want to continue this retirement trend going forward."