Coming Full Circle

A kind community and the compassionate staff at the Cashiers-Highlands

Humane Society have ensured that brave Axe enjoys his retirement from law enforcement.

Seven years ago, members of the Mountaintop Golf & Lake Club took up a collection and raised the money for the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office to acquire a new K-9 puppy in training. In gratitude for Mountaintop’s generosity, the Sheriff’s Office gave the K-9 the name of Axe, the symbol of the local country club.

Axe retired this past January. Many times in his career, this K9 Deputy specializing in drug detection alerted officers to major narcotics seizures, removing bad guys from our streets and made our neighborhoods safer.

Axe was more than just a trained law enforcement officer protecting our community. He was, and is, a beloved member of the family of Investigator Ridge Parris.

Ridge contacted CHHS in May and shared a heartbreaking situation. Axe was at the emergency veterinary hospital. He hadn’t eaten for days and had lost a tremendous amount of weight. An ultrasound showed a significant intestinal blockage, and immediate surgery was needed to save this heroic dog’s life. Unfortunately, all the emergency medical funds from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, as well as from the Parris family themselves, had been exhausted. Without the surgery, the hospital suggested euthanasia as the only option. But that wasn’t an option to CHHS. Within minutes of getting the plea for help from Investigator Parris, the Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society gave the green light for the surgery and paid 100 percent of the bill. Axe completely recovered and is now back to normal as a beloved family member and a respected retired law enforcement officer. The generosity of this community made it possible for Axe to arrive here as a puppy. And coming full circle seven years later, the generosity of this community saved Axe’s life.

At this year’s Whiskers & Whiskey at Wildcat Cliffs, to honor the service of both brave crime fighters, the CashiersHighlands Humane Society named Ridge and Axe the 2023 CHHS Humane Heroes of the Year.

Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit animal welfare organization located at 200 Gable Drive in Sapphire, one-and-a-half miles east of the Cashiers Ingles in between Cedar Creek Club and Lonesome Valley on Highway 64. Visit us online at www.chhumanesociety.org or call (828)743-5752 for more information. Tax-deductible donations to support our lifesaving work can be mailed to: CHHS, P.O. Box 638, Cashiers, NC 28717.

by David Stroud,