NEW PORT RICHEY — Jagger has a favorite spot: a small couch at Cryo-Eeze, a wellness and recovery center in New Port Richey. So his owner and former handler eased him onto it, draped him in a red-light therapy blanket and started another session.
At nearly 12, the German shepherd has earned the rest. He spent his career as a K-9 officer with the Tampa Police Department, patrolling and sniffing out explosives alongside his partner and owner, Master Patrol Officer Bridget Coyman.
Both retired in 2023. Since then, Coyman has hunted for treatments to ease the conditions that plague retired police dogs — severe arthritis, hip dysplasia and joint inflammation brought on by years of extreme physical stress, rigorous training and high-impact work.
She isn’t paying for any of it. Pasco’s Retired K-9 Foundation is.
The nonprofit, founded in 2018 by Marine veteran Thomas DeLuca, provides full medical coverage for retired law enforcement K-9s in Pasco County and surrounding areas. It currently covers 14 dogs that served the Tampa and Pasco County agencies, along with the New Port Richey, Port Richey, Dade City and Zephyrhills police departments.
But DeLuca — who comes from a family of New York City firefighters, some of whom worked at ground zero after the Sept. 11 attacks — is thinking beyond the veterinarian’s office. He has partnered with Cryo-Eeze, a veteran-owned business, and its nonprofit arm, Cryoeeze22, to cover holistic therapies typically offered to people. Jagger is the center’s only canine client.
The results came fast, Coyman said.
“Oh, it is absolutely working, and like right away,” she said. “Now, he only has the sessions once a week, and two different vets have said to continue it.
“I am committed to do whatever it takes to give him the best quality of life in his senior years. He’s definitely earned it. The amount of improvement I have seen since he started his treatment is immeasurable.”
Cryo-Eeze offers spot cryotherapy for dogs and a hyperbaric chamber for people. Jagger’s regimen is built around two treatments: photobiomodulation, or red-light therapy, a whole-body blanket that stimulates cellular repair, reduces deep muscle inflammation and eases chronic joint pain; and pulsed electromagnetic field therapy, in which loops and pads are placed directly on the hips and spine to accelerate bone healing, improve circulation and mobility, and reduce pain.
Jagger has never needed hip surgery, which is common among K-9s and among German shepherds generally. He does have chronic arthritis — a product of both the job and his age. But the treatments have put a spring back in his step. Coyman said she has had to rein him in so he doesn’t hurt himself with his newfound energy.
“That’s what it’s all about,” DeLuca said. “Our mission has always been to ensure these dogs live out their retirement in comfort, dignity and peace.”
DeLuca started the foundation out of respect for first responders, he said, and out of a recognition that their dogs would need help as they aged.
“We’re relieved that we’ve never had to say no to anyone so far,” he said.
That record rests on donations, discounted veterinary services — including from Veterinary Emergency Group in Northdale — and the foundation’s annual golf tournament. The first raised $10,000. Last year’s eighth tournament brought in $32,000. The ninth is set for Sept. 26 at Seven Springs Golf and Country Club.
DeLuca’s goal now is to expand, adding chapters in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties and eventually across Florida. Other startup animal services nonprofits have called asking him to launch one in their counties. For now, the foundation is a three-person operation: DeLuca, his wife and one volunteer. He runs it on top of a full-time job as a school guard at Sunray Elementary School.
“And the more we can do with the golf tournament, the more dogs we can help,” DeLuca said. “We want to be able to continue to say that we’ve never told anyone no. Because these are our community’s heroes, and we should ensure that those who served — on two legs or four — receive the care they deserve.”
Pasco’s Retired K-9 Foundation Golf Tournament
When: Sept. 26
Where: Seven Springs Golf and Country Club, 3535 Trophy Blvd., New Port Richey
For more information, visit https://pck9golf.com.