KOTA KINABALU: Lexi the friendly K9 tracker dog ended its last mission on earth on Nov 6, with the successful search operation for an elderly man in Menggatal near here.
The 10-year-old Labrador Retriever was found lifeless in his kennel when personnel on duty went for their usual rounds, checking on the dogs while calling their names.
Sabah Fire and Rescue Department K9 unit division chief Calvin Joe Jeafery said when the personnel called Lexi’s name, it did not respond.
“When he went to check, he found Lexi lifeless,” he said, adding they tried resuscitating the dog but to no avail.
He said Lexi’s death deeply affected the team because Lexi was among the friendliest in the K9 unit, and loved playing with balls during free time.
“Everytime we called their names, he would be the first to run up to us,” said Calvin.
He said prior to its death, the canine had been involved in a two-day search operation for a 67-year-old man who had been reported missing on Nov 4.
He said after the successful search, Lexi was taken back to the station to be bathed and fed, and did not show any signs of distress, illness or change of behaviour or manner.
Calvin said they were still waiting for the post mortem results on Lexi’s cause of death.
Lexi, whose last handler was fireman Arthur Anderson Walter, was born on April 21, 2016, in the United Kingdom, and was brought to Sabah in 2018 as among the earliest batch of search and rescue dogs for the state Fire and Rescue Department.
At that time, there were five other dogs that came along with Lexi - Scott, Pepper, Bill, Peter dan Fleur.
Lexi and Scott were trained specially for search and rescue in forests and jungle areas.
In a post on its Facebook page, the Sabah Fire and Rescue Department said the whole team would miss Lexi.
“Thank you Lexi for your service and for being part of the Sabah Fire Department family. We will miss you,” it wrote.
Lexi was buried after its post mortem on Nov 7.
