MONTAGUE, Mass. (WWLP) - K-9 Officer Lawrence "Larry" Arthur Akim was officially sworn into the Montague Police Department. After K-9 Artie passed away on October 2nd after a short decline in health due to cancer, the department decided to select another dog to fill his shoes. Through the same organization, the U.S. by Shallow Creek Kennels in Sharpsville Pennsylvania, K-9 Lawrence Arthur Akim (Larry for short) joined the Montague police force. K-9 teams help Enfield police capture suspects following stolen vehicle chase On Monday, K-9 Larry was appointed and sworn in at the Town of Montague Select Board meeting after training with Officer Jim Ruddock for the past two weeks. The Montague police say that 18-month-old Larry is a fast learner and has been concentrating on obedience, tracking, and evidence recovery. In a Facebook post by the department, Larry's surname came from, Lawrence (a symbol of victory and achievement), Arthur (it was only fitting he needed a middle name), and Akim (the name he came with from Slovakia). Local News Headlines Police chase in New Hampshire leads to arrest of Massachusetts man Freedom Credit Union collecting funds for those in need this holiday season Shipping deadlines to know ahead of the holiday season Police looking for owner of abandoned dog found in park WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.