Their part in a $2 million street drug arrest was just one element that endeared El Cajon police Officer Jordan Walker and his K-9 partner Jester to local residents during their two and a half years together.
As reported here last month, the two were also inseparable Instagram stars, with Jester showing up in crazy hats and poses on other social media accounts that garnered 200,000 visitors.
Their part in a $2 million street drug arrest was just one element that endeared El Cajon police Officer Jordan Walker and his K-9 partner Jester to local residents during their two and a half years together.
As reported here last month, the two were also inseparable Instagram stars, with Jester showing up in crazy hats and poses on other social media accounts that garnered 200,000 visitors.
Yep, a man and his dog share an incredible bond, even as Walker recently resigned from the El Cajon Police Department for another job opportunity. He felt so strongly about his old friend that he had offered to buy him as a family pet — but when the city recently declined the proposal, the social media regulars resurfaced to voice their displeasure in earnest.
Public queries have revealed that Jester is living at the El Cajon Animal Shelter. Jester’s fans have his back to the tune of 135,000 signatures on a change.org petition urging the city to reconsider; a GoFundMe page was also started to fund a new dog’s training. Donations reportedly stand at $9,000, with the cost of a new animal running as high as $18,000.
El Cajon city manager Graham Mitchell declared he has no intention of welcoming a new dog to the post, explaining that the city already has a lot invested in the 5-year-old Belgian Malinois.
“[Jester] is a great quarterback under the coach that is Jordan Walker,’’ animal advocate Caz Potts told a local television outlet; ‘‘that much we know. You take that start(ing)QB and put him with an unknown coach,and you don’t know what that QB is going to do.’’
Jester is now assigned to Officer Randall Gray, whose living arrangements do not allow him to keep Jester at home.
“None of us are giving up,’’ Potts told the TV outlet. ‘‘We think this is ridiculous,and we think it is potentially dangerous,and we will keep fighting until [Walker and Jester] get back together,where they belong.”
