Grant County Sheriff Announces Retirement of Beloved K9 Grizzly

Grant County Sheriff's Office recently released an announcement of the retirement for their crime fighting four legged sidekick, K9 Grizzly, after four years of service.

"He has some medical issues he just hasn't been able to overcome. And so he's going to be medically retired," said Kyle Foreman, Public Information Officer.

Luckily, Grizzly will remain in safe hands and continue living with his handler, Deputy Dave DeLaRosa, whom will adopt Grizzly and care for him for the rest of his life.

"Over the course of Grizzly's career, he has caught almost 50 fugitives who were trying to outrun the law," said Foreman. "Also to Grizzly's credit he helped save the life of an elderly man who had Alzheimer's who wandered away from his home on a very cold night back in February 2018. So not only did he catch bad guys, but he helped save lives."

A new German Shepard, K9 Hawk, is stepping into Grizzly's very big shoes to fill and will serve as his replacement for the sheriff's office.

"We acquired him from the Vancouver, British Columbia police department. Hawk comes with canine training and two years of working the street under his caller," said Foreman.

Deputy DeLaRosa will also serve as Hawk's handler and the pair will be heading to training to learn to work together.

"We expect to have Hawk on the street and fighting crime and saving lives by the end of October or the beginning of November," said Foreman.