WEST CHESTER, Ohio -- It can be ruff collaring crooks for a living, but one West Chester police dog kept it up for nearly a decade.
Now, canine Rex has retired from the West Chester Police Department after nine ears of service.
Rex was deployed more than 600 times and logged more than 2,400 hours of training between 2008 and 2017, police said in a news release. Some of the highlights of Rex's career include locating a suicidal man so he could get assistance and leading officers to suspects in an identity theft ring.
“Canine officers, like Rex, are a tremendous asset for our department and play an instrumental role in keeping West Chester Township a safe place to live, work and visit,” Police Chief Joel Herzog said.
West Chester officials made Rex's retirement official Tuesday by transferring ownership to Officer Scott Lovett, his handler.
Police said they plan to add a new canine officer to fill the vacancy left by Rex.
