The City of Covington will celebrate the opening of the new K-9 Ernie Memorial Dog Park at Hands Pike Park in South Covington with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, October 6, at 4:30 p.m.
The park is at 1200 Hands Pike.
The new dog park, a project led by the City’s Public Works Department and Parks and Recreation Division, features separate areas for small and large dogs, along with water fountains and benches.
Funding for the project was made a priority by the Board of Commissioners during the City’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget process.
The park was named by the City’s Board of Commissioners in honor of Covington Police K-9 Ernie, a decorated German Shepherd who served alongside Specialist Michael V. Lusardi.
Ernie survived multiple line-of-duty injuries, including being shot twice while apprehending a suspect in 2015. His experience inspired “Ernie’s Law,” which made assaulting a police K-9 a felony in Kentucky regardless of whether the animal survives. The law was signed in 2017.
K-9 Ernie retired in October 2020 and died from cancer in January 2021.
The public is invited to attend the ribbon-cutting and the opening of the new park.