MARIETTA, Ohio (WCMH) — Retired Marietta Police Officer Matt Hickey is still looking for a way to keep his K9 officer. 
 
 He says is not accepting the Auxiliary Officer position the city had offered that would have allowed him to stay on as Ajax’s handler due to health reasons. 
 
 Social media exploded when news broke that Hickey was retiring, but couldn’t take his K9 with him. 
 
 State law says Ajax is too young to retire and considered valuable department property. Hickey had been quoted $3,500 to buy him, but City Council still had to approve it. When he walked in Monday, January 25th and suddenly resigned, council hadn’t had the chance. 
 
 Monday, the City of Marietta announced the plan during a contentious meeting, saying the retired officer’s duties as part of an auxiliary role would include serving as a K9 handler and keeper for Ajax. Hickey said he would consider the offer. 
 
 Tuesday night, Hickey told NBC4 that he retired due to those same health reasons and accepting the offer isn’t wise. He says he is confident another option will be found. 
 
 Social media exploded this past weekend with more than $70,000 being raised via GoFundMe.com to help the pair stay together. Hickey says funds from the GoFundMe account that don’t go toward purchasing Ajax will be spent on equipment to protect other K9s. 
 
 Ohio state code 9.62 states that officers are allowed to purchase their K9 partners when the dog is retired for just $1. But the city says K9 Ajax is not ready for retirement, and thus it must follow another part of the same code which states: 
 
 A law enforcement officer who leaves an equine or canine unit of a law enforcement agency while the police dog or horse assigned to the officer is still fit for duty forfeits the right to purchase the animal under this section. 
 
 Mayor Joe Matthews said he wasn’t yet aware of Hickey’s decision or any other plans in the works. ||||| MARIETTA, Ohio (AP) — A recently retired police officer says he has rejected an offer from the southeastern Ohio city where he worked that would allow him to keep his K-9 partner Ajax if he agrees to work on a volunteer basis, according to news media reports. 
 
 Matt Hickey had offered $3,500 to buy Ajax, but Marietta officials rejected that deal, saying they would have to follow the law and sell the dog at auction because Ajax was city property and could still work. 
 
 They said they never intended to separate Hickey from his former canine partner, and Mayor Joe Matthews said the city council would meet Thursday night to authorize a resolution that would allow Hickey to keep the dog if he joined the auxiliary police. 
 
 Hickey said he can't join the Marietta auxiliary police because he retired in January out of health concerns and hasn't worked since July because of neck and shoulder injuries. 
 
 Ohio law allows officers to purchase their K-9 partners for $1 when the dogs are retired. But it also says an officer who leaves a law enforcement agency while a canine or equine partner is still fit for duty forfeits the right to buy the animal. 
 
 State Sen. Lou Gentile, a Democrat from Steubenville, has said he plans to introduce legislation to change the law. 
 
 "Officers and their dogs spend every day together, risking their lives to protect our communities," Gentile said in a statement Tuesday. "They should be given the option to spend retirement together, but unfortunately state law is standing in the way." 
 
 A phone number for Hickey could not be found. City officials didn't immediately respond to messages left for comment Wednesday.
– Retired Ohio police officer Matt Hickey will get to keep his K9 partner, Ajax, but he "escalated the situation by being disingenuous," his former boss says, per the New York Daily News. Marietta Police Chief Rodney Hupp says Hickey—who announced he would have to bid on his "family member" after retiring from the force last week—has been appointed an auxiliary officer, meaning Ajax can remain with him. Hupp calls the move "a win-win for everyone," but he says it was in the works since Thursday, when Hickey told the media he feared losing his dog. While police were bound by a confidentiality agreement, "you could have stopped this train wreck, simply by saying, 'They're working on a solution,'" Hupp told Hickey at a Monday press conference. "I'm ashamed of you," Hickey responded from the crowd. "You're making up small lies." Hupp admits there's "bad blood," but that won't affect Hickey's status as an auxiliary officer or his ability to keep Ajax. Some $69,000 raised to help Hickey pay for the dog will now be given to charities that work with police dogs, reports CNN.