Died 1\/9\/17<\/p>\n
Mesa police K9 officer Chico dies after cancer diagnosis<\/p>\n
Chico, a police dog who worked with the Mesa Police Department for five years, has died of cancer. The loss is especially painful because he was scheduled to retire with his handler in May, officers said. The dog was diagnosed with a virulent form of cancer just last month. \u201cHis health declined to the point his handler had to make the choice none of us like and dread,\u201d the department said. Chico served in two capacities \u2013 as a patrol and bomb dog. During his time with Mesa Police, Chico assisted in 226 area searches, 218 building searches and 73 SWAT calls. He had 16 finds and 28 surrenders. As a bomb dog, he went to 61 incidents.Travelers at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport may have seen him. He was there 170 times. \u201cK9 Chico was a loyal and faithful partner who loved going to work,\u201d the department said. \u201cHe was a sporty dog who won the Top Dog award at the Desert Dog K9 Trials.\u201dMesa Police ended its post by writing, \u201cRun and be free K9 Chico. K9 Nord, K9 Duke, and K9 Lindsay are waiting for you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Died 1\/9\/17 Mesa police K9 officer Chico dies after cancer diagnosis Chico, a police dog who worked with the Mesa Police Department for five years, has died of cancer. The loss is especially painful because he was scheduled to retire with his handler in May, officers said. The dog was diagnosed with a virulent form …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2672,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[49],"class_list":["post-2664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-k9memorial","tag-az"],"yoast_head":"\n