COLUMBIA, S.C. (WACH) - The healing process for Master Deputy Warren Cavanagh continues. The Richland County K-9 handler was presented with a new dog Wednesday, just weeks after his last one; Fargo was killed in the line of duty.
“The grieving for Fargo is not over for me, or my family,” said Cavanagh.
Fargo, Cavanagh’s partner for nearly six years, was shot while pursuing a robbery suspect December 16th.
Longtime Richland County resident Leonard Price also took the news of Fargo’s death pretty hard.
"It hurt when I heard he was shot, because I had a close affiliation with the sheriff's department, and anything that happens to them means a lot to me."
Price gave the department $7,500 to pay for “Chico”, Cavanagh’s news Belgian Malinois. He also donated the department’s first K-9, back in 1965.
Although Chico won’t replace Fargo, it’s helping Cavanagh get through the grieving process.
"If I want to continue being a K-9 handler, and that's what I am, this is something that I had to do. I wandered around for the last three weeks, with an empty kennel."
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