Greensburg bloodhound team mourns loss of 12-year veteran, Lucy

A solemn procession of law enforcement officers, first responders and public safety officials on Wednesday marked the final journey of Lucy, a beloved veteran bloodhound with the Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department Bloodhound Team.

Having dedicated more than a decade to searches for missing persons and fleeing suspects, Lucy retired from active duty in late 2023 and died Tuesday at 12 years and 8 months old.

The procession accompanied Lucy from Pennsylvania Animal Wellness & Surgery in Hempfield to Eternal Life Cremation Services in East Huntingdon. She had served with the team since May 2013, when she was an 8-week-old pup.

Team commander Lou Battistella said Lucy had retired from active search duty after December 2023.

“She just showed some signs of wearing down,” he said. “We really just left her on the sideline for the next two years.”

She eventually was diagnosed with a throat tumor, he said.

Lucy mostly remained at home the past two years with her owner and handler, Special Deputy David Jackson of Unity, though she continued until recently to participate in the team’s public relations appearances.

The team engaged in 40 such events this year, with Lucy participating in about 30 of them annually.

“Her gentle temperament and eagerness to interact made her an ideal ambassador for the team and a beloved presence throughout Westmoreland County,” said Battistella. “These events are just as important as the training that we do. Being out among people, it’s all socialization for the bloodhounds.”

Over the years, Lucy assisted in more than 300 searches along with the Westmoreland County Sheriff’s Department, state and local police and area fire departments.

Lucy’s assignments included searches for missing children, wandering adults and wanted criminals.

Battistella said bloodhounds help human searchers by pointing them in the right direction, and Lucy often was leading the way.

“If David was there with Lucy, they were the first ones out front,” he said.

He recalled one wintertime search detail when Lucy helped lead the way directly to a missing 12-year-old boy in Indiana County, although the outcome was not a happy one.

Lucy traced the boy’s scent to a swimming pool “with leaves and a little bit of water lying in the deep end,” he said. Also in the water was the body of the boy, lying face down.

“That was a bad night,” Battistella said.

Lucy was the 26th working bloodhound to serve the team since its founding in 1969 by the late Greensburg fire Chief John Edward Hutchinson.

Before pairing with Lucy, Jackson spent 13 years working with several other dogs. Since her retirement, he has been responding to calls as handler for Delsie, a 2-year-old bloodhound owned by Battistella.

Battistella said each handler gets to learn the subtle indications their dog provides during a search.

“Each dog is different,” he said. “Each dog reads differently.”

In addition to Delsie, Lucy leaves behind four other working bloodhounds with the Greensburg team: Marley, 2; Pita and Rocky, each 4; and Sassy, 5.

Darcy, 10, and Delphie, 11, are both retired from search work.