Dog Names Meaning Spells and Magic

The word jinx, also spelled as jynx, has been in use since the seventeenth century to refer to a small sparrow-sized bird called a wryneck or, more commonly, a charm or spell. It wasn’t magic that K-9 officer Jynx used to save the lives of fellow officers on the night of June 29, 2011, however, but the superior sense of smell that a dog possesses, Jynx’s protective nature, and the strong bond he had developed with his handler. Jynx and his K-9 handler, twenty-eight-year-old Kyle Pagerly, were part of a fugitive task force serving a warrant to a home in rural Albany Township. The task force was unaware that the subject was not in the home, but was instead dressed in camouflage and hiding in a sniper’s nest at the top of the mountain road, prepared to shoot the approaching officers with an AK-47 type automatic weapon as they ascended. While the man in the woods was well hidden from view, the dog followed his scent instead and alerted the human officers to the danger and then charged the suspect, forcing him to leave his cover. 

The fact that Jynx alerted his human partner to the danger is credited with saving the lives of many officers and when gunfire that was exchanged at the scene mortally wounded Kyle Pagerly, Jynx attempted to drag him out of harm's way by the pant leg. Kyle was then flown to the nearby Lehigh Valley Hospital where he succumbed to his wounds. Jynx was allowed to retire to the home of his handler's widow, Alecia Pagerly, who credits the dog and her infant daughter, Savannah Kylie, with keeping a little bit of Kyle in her life. Savannah, who Alecia was pregnant with in June of 2011, adores and is adored by her canine protector. Jynx continued appearing at fundraisers and events to raise money for the Kyle Pagerly Memorial Fund, a fund that helps promote and pay for fitness programs for first responders, and better equipment for officers. He was also nationally recognized for his heroic actions when he was presented with the 2012 American Humane Society’s Hero Dog Award in the category of Law Enforcement/Arson dog. On June 29, 2016, five years after the death of his partner, Jynx stood beside four-year-old Savannah Kylie as she used pink scissors to cut the ribbon that marked the opening of the new Kyle Pagerly Memorial K-9 Training Facility in Bern Township, Pennsylvania.