The County Sheriff’s Office said good-bye to one of its police dogs, who retired early in 2014 and died in October.
Department deputies and dignitaries gathered Wednesday morning to say good-by to K-9 Ofc. Nico, a police dog that served from Dec. 5, 2011 to his retirement Feb. 1, 2014 after contracting canine epilepsy and suffering from seizures.
Nico was teamed with Dep. Steve Faeth during his tour of duty and Faeth took the dog home, where he became a member of the Faeth Family. Nico died this past Oct. 1 of complications from his disease.
Sheriff Ian Parkinson, the Sheriff’s Honor Guard, Sheriff’s K-9s and their handlers and K-9 officers from other law enforcement agencies in SLO and Santa Barbara County attended the memorial. Nico was laid to rest in a special pet cemetery on a hillside by the Sheriff’s Department headquarters that was created for Nico and future police dogs from the Sheriff’s Department, which typically has a half dozen or so dogs working various missions — drug detection, jail security, search and rescue and more. Submitted photos
