Amigo, a German Shepherd, was born on September 10, 2005. After a donation from The Matt Haverkamp Foundation, he began working with the City of Madeira Police Department in July of 2006. During his career, Amigo and his handler, Officer Ed Farris, tracked and located suspects wanted for felonies in Madeira, surrounding cities, and even surrounding states.

Amigo had excellent tracking skills and many notable accomplishments. One of his most memorable tracks happened at East Fork Lake State Park. Amigo and Officer Farris were called out to track a suspect for an assault on a child that happened 3 hours prior to the call. Amigo was able to track the suspect through woods and campgrounds to locate the suspect hiding on the roof of a park building.

Officer Farris has served in law enforcement since 2002 and Amigo was his first K9 partner. “The Matt Haverkamp Foundation is a blessing to smaller police departments that may not be able to start up a K9 unit,” shared Officer Farris. The funding from The Foundation included not only the purchase of Amigo, but also equipment for the K9 squad car. “The Matt Haverkamp Foundation has allowed me to step outside my role as a patrol officer and allowed me to work with other agencies while utilizing the K9 unit,” added Officer Farris.

Sadly, Amigo passed away on August 30, 2014 after a brief illness. His legacy on Madeira and the surrounding communities will be everlasting. He will always be remembered for his dedicated public service and the sense of security that he provided to the citizens of Madeira.