Police K9 Max Medically Retired

By Emily Weaver
Daily Record of Dunn

DUNN, N.C. – A depressing diagnosis led Dunn City Council members to approve the early retirement of its last K9 on the Dunn Police Department force June 9. Another K9 is on the way with the approval of a recent grant, but K9 Max will be missed as his brothers and sisters in blue pray for his recovery from a tumor growing closer to his brain.

“K9 Max has developed a tumor in his head and it’s not survivable at this time,” Dunn Police Chief Lynn Gay told the council at its June 9 meeting. “So the best course of action — and we’ve run all the scenarios, is to just retire him medically and let him sort of live in peace with the handler, where he’s currently at, until the cancer kind of takes over.”

The Belgian Malinois was born on Oct. 6, 2023. The Dunn Police Department purchased him from Orchard Knoll K9 for $8,900 and assigned him to Officer Cody Chavis on June 24, 2024. He’s been with the department ever since, sniffing out crime with special training in human scent tracking, narcotics detection, article searches and suspect apprehension.

Council members unanimously voted to medically retire Max and give him to Chavis at the meeting, clearing the way for him to live out the rest of his life on a farm with his handler.

Chavis plans to try to prolong Max’s life without pain for as long as he can as the K9 enjoys life on the Chavis farm.

Chavis “is very attached to the dog, like most officers are with their K9 partners, and he’s got a neat place for the dog to be and most importantly, the dog is not in pain or suffering right now. He’s fine, we just can’t work him,” Dunn City Manager Justin Hembree told the council.

“In November 2025, Officer Chavis noticed Max stumbling and unable to walk straight and took him to Triangle Veterinary Referral Hospital for emergency treatment. In April 2026, an indentation appeared on Max’s head just behind his left eye and X-rays determined an MRI would be necessary. The May 6, 2026 MRI revealed that Max has either a malignant tumor or lymphoma located on the nerve running from his left eye toward his brain,” the chief noted in a memo to council members.

On May 26, veterinarian Dr. Josh Warren advised Chief Gay and Deputy Chief Nick Simmons “that Max’s tumor location is atypcial and without treatment, would likely continue growing toward the brain stem, eventually causing death.

“Dr. Warren further opined that radiation therapy is available, but whether radiation would prolong Max’s life beyond one year is uncertain. Additionally, during any radiation treatment, Max would be unable to work. Dr. Warren did not recommend euthanasia at this time, but stated that Max could be medically retired and allowed to live with his handler for the remainder of Max’s life,” the memo stated.

Max is the second K9 to retire this year from the Dunn police force. K9 Apacs retired to live with his family and Dunn’s in-house K9 trainer Sgt. Adam Sikorski in March.

The Dunn Police Department was recently approved for a K9 Cop Grant through the AKC Reunite program to train its next K9 member.

“… We’re in the works of purchasing another dog and since our K9 handler is trained already, it’ll be a nice match,” the chief said.