Ventnor Police Say Goodbye to Beloved K-9 Axel

The Ventnor Police announced the passing of a retired police K-9 this week.

VCPD K9 Axel #901 served the department with his handler, Captain David Gaeckle, and is being remembered as an exceptional member of the Ventnor City Police Department K9 Unit.

The Ventnor Police ended the K-9 division due to budget cuts in 2021, and Axel and Joker, the two K--9 dogs, were forced into retirement. Both K-9s, which were Belgian Malinois dogs, were adopted by their handlers, with  Axel becoming a "cherished part" of Captain Gaeckle's family until his passing.

Axel's Record of Service

During his tenure with the Ventnor PD, Axel accomplished quite a bit.

After completing over 28 weeks of intensive training and being certified in tracking, apprehension, article search, building search, and narcotics detection.

In 2019, Axel and his K9 partner Joker, along with their handlers, represented the Ventnor City Police Department at the USPCA National Detector Trials, where they finished in 1st place nationally in the Teams Narcotics Competition.

A Facebook post from Ventnor Police reviewed Axel's accomplishments as a K-9 for the department.

Throughout his career, Axel was responsible for over 130 cases, conducted 65 vehicle searches, was involved in 11 suspect surrenders, completed 24 tracks, assisted in 6 search warrant executions, and aided in the seizure of over 325 grams of marijuana, more than 1,396 bags of heroin, 28.50 grams of methamphetamine, 4.21 ounces of cocaine, and $16,770 in U.S. currency.

Axel was also a popular performer at Ventnor community demonstrations about K-9 policing techniques.

Losing a retired member of the force and a great dog is hard. Our condolences to Captain Gaeckle and the Ventnor Police on the passing of Axel.