By Libby Cunningham
The Evening News and the Tribune
CLARKSVILLE, Ind. — Clarksville veterinarian Dr. H.R. Gough tearfully remembers the late night he was called to his office to check on a K-9 officer following the line-of-duty pursuit crash death of Charlestown Police Sgt. Benton Bertram.
“They brought the dog in here. I had just lost my first wife when that happened in 2018 and it was a sad time for me,” Gough said. “It was 2 o’clock in the morning when they brought the dog in. He was OK. I’ll never forget it; it was just me and him, and I laid down on the floor with him and talked to him.”
He said Bertram was an amazing K-9 officer and that he still sees the dog as a patient to this day.
Gough has spent more than 40 years helping K-9 officers and police departments across Indiana by providing free veterinary services for police dogs.
He owns Clarksville Animal Hospital, 1137 Eastern Boulevard, which he opened in 1978. His late wife, Karen, spent years working with him at the office.
Today, the Clarksville Town Council is expected to approve a resolution that names a street in the town after Gough.
The street that connects the Clarksville Fire Department to the Clarksville Police department is proposed to be called Dr. H.R. Gough Way. It is the street extending from Progress Way to Sam Gwin Drive in Clarksville.
“I think Chief Palmer said it best when he said Dr. Gough provides a service to our community and other Southern Indiana communities we’ll never be able to repay,” said Clarksville Communications Director Ken Conklin. “The amount of money he’s saved our department and being there for our police departments is really huge.”
Gough said at this point he’s probably provided veterinary services to more than 100 police dogs, starting with K-9 officer Rex in the early 1980s. Rex was an officer with the Jeffersonville Police Department and Gough said he knew the dog’s handler.
He has two plaques full of the names of the police officers, police dogs and departments he’s offered his free services to, including departments as far north as Columbus.
When Clarksville Police Chief Mark Palmer called to tell him about the street name, Gough said he was honored.
“I’ve thought well, typically, I’ve had a couple customers that has happened to and typically that doesn’t happen until you pass,” Gough said. “I told him that joke and he said, ‘We want to do it now.’ I said that was quite an honor and I really thank you.”
Police dogs have different needs than most dogs and Dr. Gough said it’s important that they’re up to date on their vaccinations and flea and tick medications.
He’s been a veterinarian for 47 years and said he strongly believes in the work the police dogs do.
“It makes young people look at police officers in a different way and we need that,” he said. “I firmly believe what these dogs do in any communities in terms of controlling crime and drug detection.”
Gough is a dog owner himself and has a French bulldog named Margo and a Maltese named Lola. He and his wife Linda live in Jeffersonville.
He said it’s important that K-9 handlers are also able to take their dogs home, too.
“A lot of these dogs are with these handlers at the home...and I think that’s a good thing, gives them a different outlook as a dog on life,” he said. “They see a home life in addition to a work life, because the work life is pretty tough sometimes.”
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