Shelby Township K-9 Morpheus celebrates 8th birthday

SHELBY TOWNSHIP — A member of the Shelby Township Police Department’s K-9 unit recently celebrated his birthday after many years of being with the department.

K-9 officer Morpheus celebrated his eighth birthday June 26 and is still working hard to get his job done every day. Morpheus has been a part of the Shelby Township Police Department since he was 15 months old.

The Shelby Township Board of Trustees welcomed Morpheus to the community Dec. 1, 2015. Sgt. Joseph Wojcik, then an officer, helped Morpheus take his oath.

For his birthday this year, Morpheus was given another stuffed chicken toy, which he loves tearing up, so Wojcik, Morpheus’ handler, has to buy another one and pretend it’s still the first one every time. Morpheus also got some treats, too, of course.

Every year, Morpheus attends the annual Youth Academy that the department holds.

“When we host our annual Youth Academy, I ask the kids at the end of the academy what their favorite part of the academy was, and almost all of them say they love the time during the Youth Academy that they get to see our K-9 demos and meet our K-9 dogs,” Sgt. Mark Benedettini, of the Shelby Township Police Department, said. “We are happy to celebrate Morpheus’ eighth birthday! Morpheus is an integral member of our Police Department.”

Wojcik said his time in the K-9 unit with Morpheus has been the highlight of his career thus far. 

“Together, we have accomplished many feats in our six years and nine months (we were paired up when he was 15 months) on the road together, whether that be tracking criminals in the middle of the night, taking kilos of narcotics off the street or simply educating our community on our K-9 unit through meet-and-greets or demonstrations,” he said.

He said birthdays are always special with Morpheus because he is not only a part of the Shelby Township Police Department’s family, but he is also a huge part of Wojcik’s family.

“Usually on his birthday, Morpheus gets spoiled with new toys and treats. This year, we had to work on his birthday, so he only got to enjoy his new toys a little bit before his shift, although he did manage to devour all his favorite treats before the shift,” he said.