KALAMAZOO, Mich. — "You're ok... You're ok," is what Officer Max Houtman repeated to his K9 Officer Sledge in dashcam video as he was being driven to an emergency animal hospital.
Sledge was stabbed in the neck by a suspect Tuesday night, the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety says.
When officers arrived to the scene, they found a man armed with a box cutter, threatening to stab people.
KDPS says the man threatened to kill the officers and approached them, ignoring calls to put the knife down. Sledge was then deployed to help protect officers and those who KDPS says the man assaulted.
The suspect was apprehended, but Sledge was stabbed in the neck.
"He was bleeding really heavily from the left jugular vein," said Dr. Samantha Gerbers, a veterinarian at Animal Emergency and Specialty Hospital of Byron Center, who worked to treat Sledge.
"He was too weak to walk, so we did have to bring him in on the gurney, and at that point, he was really shocking. He was very pale, very weak pulses, high heart rate," Gerbers added.
She said he had to be quickly put under anesthesia. They were then able to successfully stop the bleeding and stabilize Sledge with IV fluids.
Gerbers said that it was the actions taken by Sledge's handler that played a key role in saving his life.
"When you have heavy bleeding like that, you just really need to keep firm pressure on the area, and he did that the whole ride here, he sat with Sledge and put pressure on the area, really minimized the blood loss," said Gerbers. "Had he not done that, I don't know if he would have made it."
Gerbers and her team members said the most striking part of the case was the love Houtman and other officers show to their dogs, saying that K9 units from Grand Rapids, Portage and Kalamazoo came to the hospital to show their support for Houtman and Sledge.
"We had an entire hallway full of officers last night because they were all here for Sledge and it was awesome to see."
Sledge was discharged and is now at home with Houtman resting. Gerbers believes he can make a full recovery within two weeks.
"He was obviously extremely concerned from all the blood that he had seen, and very, very worried, and when I got his blood levels, and we got the bleeding stopped. It's just such relief, they were so grateful," said Gerbers.
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