YORK COUNTY, Pa. — It’s a somber day as police and the community grieve the loss of a member of the Newberry Township K9 unit who unexpectedly passed away yesterday.
Police and other K9 handlers are remembering this four-legged hero.
“The ball got lodged inside K9 Zar’s mouth, and they were unable to retrieve it,” Chief Steven Lutz with the Newberry Township Police Department said.
K9 Zar, who was a 5 ½-year-old Belgian Malinois German Shepherd mix, died during obedience training.
“He was a force multiplier for the police department, and it's an unfortunate loss; we are going to miss him greatly,” Lutz said.
K9 Zar joined the team in 2019, along with K9 Rico, to replace K9 Taser, who passed away due to bone cancer.
“Well, he was one of us, you know, people look at K9s and say, ‘well he’s a dog,’ that they view them as animals like they have at home, but that’s not the truth; K9 Zar was actually a police officer,” Lutz said.
Lutz says K9 Zar was an asset to the department, with his greatest achievement being finding a stolen gun that was thrown into the woods.
“Him securing that weapon prevented a child or somebody else walking through that area grabbing that object and potentially harming themselves or harming somebody else,” Lutz said.
Thirty-five to 40 police vehicles filled the streets with an outpouring of support, with most of them being K9 handlers, to remember K9 Zar.
“K9 Zar was a canine, but he’s still a law enforcement officer,” Lutz said. “He still has the same protections and the same abilities that we do as police officers. However, he does it in different ways. He has four legs, we have two.”
K9 Zar took his last ride as community members saluted their friend, colleague and protector.