MARIETTA, Ohio (WCMH) — Retired Marietta Police Officer Matt Hickey is still looking for a way to keep his K9 officer. 
 
 He says is not accepting the Auxiliary Officer position the city had offered that would have allowed him to stay on as Ajax’s handler due to health reasons. 
 
 Social media exploded when news broke that Hickey was retiring, but couldn’t take his K9 with him. 
 
 State law says Ajax is too young to retire and considered valuable department property. Hickey had been quoted $3,500 to buy him, but City Council still had to approve it. When he walked in Monday, January 25th and suddenly resigned, council hadn’t had the chance. 
 
 Monday, the City of Marietta announced the plan during a contentious meeting, saying the retired officer’s duties as part of an auxiliary role would include serving as a K9 handler and keeper for Ajax. Hickey said he would consider the offer. 
 
 Tuesday night, Hickey told NBC4 that he retired due to those same health reasons and accepting the offer isn’t wise. He says he is confident another option will be found. 
 
 Social media exploded this past weekend with more than $70,000 being raised via GoFundMe.com to help the pair stay together. Hickey says funds from the GoFundMe account that don’t go toward purchasing Ajax will be spent on equipment to protect other K9s. 
 
 Ohio state code 9.62 states that officers are allowed to purchase their K9 partners when the dog is retired for just $1. But the city says K9 Ajax is not ready for retirement, and thus it must follow another part of the same code which states: 
 
 A law enforcement officer who leaves an equine or canine unit of a law enforcement agency while the police dog or horse assigned to the officer is still fit for duty forfeits the right to purchase the animal under this section. 
 
 Mayor Joe Matthews said he wasn’t yet aware of Hickey’s decision or any other plans in the works. ||||| Story highlights The Marietta City Council on Thursday will decide on a retired K-9 officer's request to keep his dog 
 
 The dog is property under state law and must be auctioned 
 
 GoFundMe page has raised over $70,000 in support of Matthew Hickey, the retired officer 
 
 (CNN) The retired Marietta, Ohio, police officer who has been fighting to keep his K-9 partner will have to decide whether he'll take an auxiliary position on the force so he can keep his beloved Ajax, and to prevent the city from having to auction off the German shepherd. 
 
 Matthew Hickey retired from the Marietta Police Department last month due to an injury. The former K-9 officer told CNN his original understanding was that he could keep Ajax as long as he paid the value of the working dog. Hickey said Ajax was valued between $3,500 and $4,000. 
 
 "Ajax is a family member; he's one of my children," Hickey told CNN affiliate WBNS 
 
 According to Ohio law, though, a police dog must be treated as city property and sold at auction if its handler leaves the force and another handler is not available. Ajax can likely work for another five or six years, according to the police statement. 
 
 The city council will consider options for Hickey and Ajax during a meeting Thursday. On Wednesday, Mayor Joe Matthews told CNN that the Marietta City Council will officially offer Hickey the auxiliary officer position on Thursday. 
 
 Read More ||||| Marietta K9 Officer Matt Hickey says he's spent every day for the past three years with his partner Ajax. 
 
 “Ajax is a family member, one of my children,” he said. 
 
 But this bond could be broken forever. 
 
 It all started when Hickey decided he wanted to retire. Hickey is 57 and Ajax is going on 6. Ajax has the potential to work six more years. 
 
 “I was under the assumption I would end up with the dog [when I retired],” he said. 
 
 Hickey says he offered to pay the city $3,500, which is what the city says Ajax was worth. 
 
 He says he talked to his chief about this and had the money in hand the day he retired. 
 
 “I'm retiring today basically here's the money for the dog [and] he said ‘I can't take the money for the dog,’” Hickey said. 
 
 It turns out it wasn't as easy as Hickey thought. In the eyes of the law, Ajax isn't just a dog. 
 
 “The dog is property of the city of Marietta,” Marietta Law Director Paul Betram III said. “Because it is personal property, it is treated like a shovel. That's just the way it is.” 
 
 The cold hard truth about Ajax is that the city must sell him to the highest bidder at auction which may not be the one person who knows him best. 
 
 “I’m afraid somebody might take the dog and auction way high and go over my head,” Hickey said. 
 
 It may sound strange that a dog can be sold at auction, but the city says it has the power to do it. 
 
 The city says only a police officer, either active or retired, or someone who trains K9 officers would be allowed to bid on Ajax. 
 
 Until then, Ajax remains at Hickey's home but how long won't be known until the bids for Ajax are opened. 
 
 Hickey hopes his bid is the only one so he and Ajax can retire together. 
 
 We spoke to other police departments about this story. No one can recall a situation where a police dog was put out to bid when the officer retired. 
 
 Ohio law provides that officers can buy their dogs if the dog is older, or injured in the line of duty. 
 
 Hickey hopes his case will motivate legislators to change the law to make it easier for K-9 handlers to buy their dogs. 
 
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– Retired Ohio police officer Matt Hickey will get to keep his K9 partner, Ajax, but he "escalated the situation by being disingenuous," his former boss says, per the New York Daily News. Marietta Police Chief Rodney Hupp says Hickey—who announced he would have to bid on his "family member" after retiring from the force last week—has been appointed an auxiliary officer, meaning Ajax can remain with him. Hupp calls the move "a win-win for everyone," but he says it was in the works since Thursday, when Hickey told the media he feared losing his dog. While police were bound by a confidentiality agreement, "you could have stopped this train wreck, simply by saying, 'They're working on a solution,'" Hupp told Hickey at a Monday press conference. "I'm ashamed of you," Hickey responded from the crowd. "You're making up small lies." Hupp admits there's "bad blood," but that won't affect Hickey's status as an auxiliary officer or his ability to keep Ajax. Some $69,000 raised to help Hickey pay for the dog will now be given to charities that work with police dogs, reports CNN.