Retired Fort Bragg military working dogs find new forever homes

FORT BRAGG, N.C. ¬¬– Three Fort Bragg military working dogs ended their successful Army careers in a joint retirement ceremony hosted by the 550th Military Police Detachment, July 14.

Alongside their adopted families, MWDs Alex, Jerry, and Zita were honored for their unwavering dedication throughout their military career and individual accomplishments during their journey as a police dog.

Each MWD received the Veterinary Coin of Excellence, a token of gratitude for his or her active duty service and in addition, a bone representing each dog’s transition from a fully certified military working dog to a retired Army veteran and man’s best friend.

For Zita, a patrol narcotics detector Belgian Malinois, retired life will be spent with her very first handler, Michael Coffee and his wife, Alexis. Coffee picked up Zita from the airport in 2017 and got to know her as a young working dog. Zita has had three handlers throughout her career at Fort Bragg from September 2018 to July 2022 and deployed to Kuwait in 2018.

“I’m very honored to be able to take her home and let her finally relax,” said Coffee.

Alex, who specializes in explosive detection, is a happy German Shepherd who is ready to live the life of a couch dog. Alex has three deployments during his career, Kuwait in 2020, Afghanistan in 2021 and most recently, Poland 2022. He has worked with two different handlers throughout his Fort Bragg career from April 2018 to July 2022. His most recent handler, Sgt. Christopher Zarate, adopted Alex.

“I’ve worked with him for four years and went through all three deployments together,” said Zarate. “It was a no brainer that I wanted to adopt him and let him finally be a dog.”

Zarate also has other dogs at home so it will take time introducing Alex to the other dogs. In order to allow the dogs to get used to each other, Zarate will crate Alex and let him and the other dogs sniff each other individually.

When a MWD is deemed ready for retirement, mostly due to age or injury, prior handlers get first opportunity to adopt. The adoption process goes through multiple layers of approval that include overall health and disposition of dog, living conditions of forever home, and adopters must meet certain criteria to be considered eligible to adopt.

“It’s time to just let him be a dog,” said Zarate. “(Alex) has been go, go, go – so retired life will be a big change for him but he deserves it. There’s a big cheeseburger and a nice, soft, comfy couch waiting for him when he gets home.”

Jerry, an all-black German Shepherd, a patrol explosives detection dog, has the same agenda when he gets to his new forever home.

“First thing (Jerry) will probably do when getting home is find all the food,” said Manuel Paulino, one of four handlers Jerry has worked with. “We deployed together, but we also provided security to the president and vice president at the time.”

Jerry served as a MWD from March 2015 to July 2022 and deployed to Afghanistan in 2016, Iraq and Syria in 2019, and Kuwait in 2021.

“Alex, Jerry, and Zita, we can now add your names to a long list of those who have served our nations armed forces so proudly and faithfully,” said Col. Sharon Lyght, commander of the 16th Military Police Brigade. “We wish the very best for these wonderful dogs and their new families with their journey into retirement.”