Salem’s first K-9 officers officially began their retirement Tuesday following their well-earned commendations from city council for their near decade of dedicated service to the city of Salem. From left, Patrolman Steve LaRose with Argo and Sgt. Mike Garber with Simon. (Photo by Morgan Ahart)

SALEM — Salem’s first two K-9 officers — Simon and Argo — were honored Tuesday night as their retirements officially began.

Simon and Argo have effectively been in retirement since the certification of their successors, K-9s Chaz and Ferro, on Nov. 1, and their official swearing in ceremony Nov. 20, leaving only the official recognition of their dedicated service unfinished ahead of their official retirement. That final box was checked in the city council’s meeting Tuesday, with official resolutions commending Simon and Argo for “their dedicated service to the city of Salem as police K-9” from Aug. 2016 to Dec. 2024 and May 2017 to Dec. 2024, respectively, receiving a standing ovation as their retirements became official.

Both Simon and Argo, who are 9 1/2 and 9 years old, respectively, are set to remain with their current handlers Sgt. Mike Garber and Patrolman Steve LaRosa throughout their retirement as pets and will be purchased from the department for $1 each.

The police department announced in August that Argo and Simon would be forced to take early retirement following the legalization of cannabis for adult use in Ohio as both were trained to identify the presence of marijuana. LaRosa and Garber have said that were it not for the legalization of cannabis Simon and Argo could have both served for 10 years, which would have meant two more years of service for Simon and three for Argo.

They are being succeeded by K-9 Chaz who will be partnered with Garber and K-9 Fero who will be paired with LaRosa. Garber said that Chaz and Fero were trained as “three odor dogs,” meaning that they are trained to identify heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and their derivatives.

Chaz and Fero are both Belgian Malinois, German Sheperd mixes, and are roughly a 1 year and 9 months, and a 1 1/2 years old, respectively, and came at a cost of $10,000 each. That price does not include the roughly $7,000 cost of training, which was donated by the Vaness K9 Training Facility in Canton. While the Ohio legislature floated the idea of providing funds for departments that had to replace their K-9s following the legalization of cannabis in the state in House Bill 396 in February, no funding has yet resulted from those discussions following its first hearing on May 8.

During the meeting’s conclusion, Councilmen Jeff Stockman, Andrew Null, and City Council President Sara Baronzzi thanked Simon, Argo, Garber, and LaRosa for their dedicated service to the community and all the work they’ve done to protect the community.

Council will meet next at 7 p.m. Dec. 17.