Durban - Deacon, a SAPS K9, who was killed while protecting his handler and apprehending a suspect, has been hailed a hero.
Sergeant Pat Le Grange and Deacon had responded to a call of a housebreaking in the St Francis Bay area on Monday at around 7.30am.
Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said Le Grange and Deacon pursued the suspect/s after having been informed that they had entered dense bush in the area.
“When warnings to exit the bush had failed, the duo crawled into the thicket, with Deacon leading the way on a long leash.
“At some point, the handler heard a loud scream and hastened to get to his dog.
“As Sergeant Le Grange stood up, the suspect lunged at him with a knife.
“Deacon, who had been stabbed, got up to protect his handler and, once again, pounced on the suspect, enabling his handler to arrest him.
“After Sergeant Le Grange had secured his arrest, he realised that his dog was bleeding profusely. Deacon was rushed to a nearby vet for treatment.
“However, after been stabilised and treated about an hour later, brave Deacon suffered a cardiac arrest due his injury and passed away.“
The SAPS said Deacon, one year and nine months old, had joined the crime-fighting team at the Humansdorp K9 unit in July 2022.
Police said the 19-year-old suspect appeared in court on charges of housebreaking, attack on a police official and malicious damage to property (for the death of Deacon).
Naidu said police dogs have proved to be pivotal to the success of operations in a multitude of cases whereby their handlers would never have been successful on their own.
“They (dogs) have the ability to go into places that ordinarily a human being would not be able to. They have the ability to detect incriminating items or items with evidential value just by using their senses. They are certainly part of the SAPS family.”
IOL