Holly MatkinPlymouth, MA – Plymouth Police Department (PPD) K9 Felix died on March 22, due to an aggressive form of cancer.
K9 Felix, a four-year-old black German shepherd, was diagnosed with the untreatable disease on March 18, the Plymouth Police Working Dog Foundation said in a Facebook post.
“It is with tremendous grief and sadness that we must announce that K-9 Felix has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer,” the post read. “Please keep saying prayers for him and we will continue to update with future arrangements.”
Approximately two dozen police officers and many members of the community lined the sidewalk outside the Court Street Animal Hospital to salute K9 Felix four days later, as his watch came to an end, The Enterprise reported.
After he was humanely euthanized, K9 Felix’s body was escorted to the Angel View Pet Cemetery in Middleborough by a procession of law enforcement officers.
“K-9 Felix has served the town of Plymouth with honor and courage in the apprehension of numerous violent criminals, as well as locating missing children and evidence,” Plymouth Police Chief Michael Boteiri said in a statement.
“He was a great partner, a great motivated working police dog,” Plymouth Police Officer Keith Larson said. “We’re going to miss him dearly.”
The duo worked together in the patrol division since the Czechoslovakian-born K9 joined the PPD in 2017.
K9 Felix specialized in criminal apprehension, crowd control, tracking, evidence recovery, and handler protection, according to the PPD’s website.
“I loved him with all my heart and he was more than just dog to me,” Officer Larson wrote in a Facebook post. “He was a partner that would lay his life down for me, he was a true friend and he was loved more than anything by myself and my family. I love you Felix and will see you again someday buddy.”
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Plymouth Police Department and Officer Larson in the loss of K9 Felix.