A Kings County Sheriff's deputy died on Monday night.

He had recently been diagnosed with acute renal failure, or damage to the kidneys. Symptoms first showed up just days before he found himself in an intensive care unit at the University of California, Davis.

It's still too premature to know exactly what killed Brando, a 6-year-old Belgium Malinois with a black snout and thin frame.

A four-year veteran of the Sheriff's Office's K-9 unit, Brando was described as "one of the best dogs to go through our K-9 program since it was formed in 1989." His end came quickly and with little warning, much to the dismay of his partner, Deputy Rod Shulman.

"It's tough," he said. "I get very emotional when I think about it. He's been my partner for four years. We worked together, competed together, played and trained together."

The episode started on Oct. 13. The pair assisted a joint narcotics search operation conducted by the Hanford Police Department and state parole agents. As they worked, Shulman noticed that Brando wasn't acting like his old self.

"His behavior and demeanor, even toward the suspects, was totally different," he said. 

Shulman decided to take him by Hanford Veterinary Hospital for a checkup. Before they left, he let Brando take a break to relieve himself. There was blood in his urine.

Dr. Lee Fausett put Brando on antibiotics and ran some tests to determine what was wrong.

As time passed, the symptoms seemed to worsen. Brando had a fever, his kidneys were only partially working and he started to vomit regularly.

By Thursday, Fausett determined that Brando needed advanced treatment. If he had any chance of surviving, he would need to be taken to the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at UC Davis.

Senior Deputy Kris Zuniga and District Attorney Investigator Jeff Stamper, both of whom are private pilots, offered to fly the dog up there for treatment. Shulman rode along, as did Fausett.

"We were pretty comfortable with how Brando would have managed the flight, but I wanted to make sure everything went well," Fausett said. "Someone with medical training needed to be there to give him plasma and to act if something unforeseen happened, like if Brando went into a seizure on the trip."

They were met at the airport by UC Davis police, who called it in as a Code Three emergency to quickly transport Brando to the clinic. He was admitted to the Small Animal Clinic's intensive care unit.

Additional problems presented themselves soon after the group arrived.

The outlook wasn't good. It appeared Brando might be suffering from Leptospirosis, a bacterial infection which causes damage to the kidneys. Initial estimates by the hospital were between $10,000 and $15,000 for two weeks of treatment.

"Initially, we were presented with some figures that would allow us to save his life," Sheriff's Cmdr. Robert Thayer explained. "We signed the deposit, then were told that $10,000 wouldn't last through the weekend."

Shulman was contacted with the bad news. The Sheriff's Office could only afford to pay $7,000 of the tab. After that, he could either euthanize the dog, or Brando could be retired into Shulman's care.

"The picture painted for us was that Brando was extremely sick," Thayer said. "It was too soon to even know if there was any hope that he would get better. We've heard some cases like this where the bills end up being more than $50,000. And, the hard truth is, we don't have that kind of money to spend on a vet bill."

It was not a decision made lightly, Thayer said. It was felt that the two options presented to Shulman were in the dog's best interests.

"I wasn't going to allow them to euthanize Brando," he said. "I told them I'd take on the costs just to give him a fighting chance."

At 5 p.m. on Friday, Brando was retired from active duty.

In the days that followed, he started to show signs of recovery.

Then, at 10 p.m. Monday night, Brando went into cardiac arrest. Doctors gave him CPR and were able to revive him briefly, but at 10:30 p.m., Brando died.

Fausett said it is still too premature to know exactly what killed the K-9 deputy.

"The doctors at UC Davis are pretty mystified by it," he said. "We hope to have more information in a week, when they perform a necropsy on him."

A necropsy -- or animal autopsy -- will be performed in the next few days. The staff at UC Davis says it hopes this information can be used to treat other dogs and prevent them from sharing Brando's fate.

But in the meantime, Shulman is faced with a hard reality: His partner is dead and he's on the line for several thousand dollars in medical treatment.

"I understand there has to be some budget decisions, but I think this could have been handled differently. Am I happy about what happened? No, I'm not. But it's semantics at this point," he said. "There was no way they were going to euthanize my dog without giving him a chance to live."

Shulman described Brando as not a dog, but a deputy "who provided countless hours of service to this community."

"Brando's been my partner since September in 2005," Shulman said. "He lives with me at home, he's with me all the time at work. It goes without saying that he'd give his life for me."

The Kings County Deputy Sheriff's Association, a group independent from the Sheriff's Office comprised of deputies, District Attorney's Office investigators and probation officers, has set up an account at Kings Federal Credit Union in Hanford to help offset the medical costs.

"We believe, even though Rod was more than willing to take on all financial responsibilities on behalf of his partner, he shouldn't have to," they said in a written statement.

The Sheriff's Office will still pay the initial $7,000 promised for Brando's treatment.

Those interested in donating are asked to send a check or money order to the Kings County Deputy Sheriff's Association, made payable to the "K-9 Brando Fund." Donations will also be accepted at the Kings Federal Credit Union and the Kings County Sheriff's Office.

The money will be used to help offset the additional costs incurred by Deputy Shulman. Any funds remaining will be donated to Hanford Veterinary Hospital and the Small Animal Clinic at UC Davis in the names of Brando and Rod Shulman.

Brando's partner wanted to thank the many people who assisted in this hard time, including Ryan Heafey, who helped pay for the deposit to get Brando treated, as well as Dr. Fausett and the staff at Hanford Vet Hospital, the UC Davis Police Department, the UC Davis Small Animal Clinic medical staff and ICU nurses, the Fresno County Sheriff's K-9 unit and to his fellow K-9 handlers, friends and family.

"Brando was well liked by everyone," he said. "When we weren't working, he loved everyone. Even when he was sick and down, the people at UC Davis grew close to him. That was just the effect he had on people. He loved being in the spotlight, performing for people. Especially kids. But when it was time to work, it was like you flipped a switch and he was all business."

The reporter can be reached at 583-2425.

If you want to help:

--Send a check or money order to the Kings County Deputy Sheriff’s Association, made payable to the “K-9 Brando Fund,” Account 0000155413. Donations will also be accepted at the Kings Federal Credit Union and the Kings County Sheriff’s Office.

(Oct. 24, 2009)