While on assignment in Georgia, Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms ATF canine agent Ike was treated for gastric dilation volvulus, commonly known as bloat. One week later in Michigan, Ike began vomiting blood. Special Agent Jeffrey Perryman brought Ike to the MSU Veterinary Medical Center, where an ultrasound revealed mesenteric volvulus, meaning that Ike’s entire intestinal tract had twisted. Emergency and Critical Care veterinarian Dr. Ari Jutkowitz and anesthetist Jennifer DeVoe kept Ike alive while Dr. Krista Gazzola and Dr. Andrew Armstrong performed emergency surgery. Ike’s prognosis was grim, but with the help of MSU’s team, he survived.

One week after recovery, agents Ike and Perryman returned to MSU and presented an award from Washington D.C. to Dr. Jutkowitz and the Hospital for saving Ike’s life by going “above and beyond to help an agent.” Agents Perryman and Ike are one of ten teams of human/canine duos that make up the Bureau of ATF and Explosives Special Response Team Canine Program.