Daniel Prince
Bloodhound captured 35 suspects in his career
At the meeting, the supervisor and the sheriff announced the loss of one of the Union County Sheriff’s Office’s K-9 officers, Duke. Duke, a bloodhound, had been with the sheriff’s office for about 5 years and remained in service up until the last couple of weeks, when his health took a turn for the worse. Duke died of cancer. During his time of service, he participated in about 130 callouts and was responsible for around 35 captures. Prayers were asked for his handler, Deputy Galen Israel.
In a Facebook post, Israel said, “For the last two years I have learned what it means to have a working dog and it has been the best 2 years ever. There has been a lot of sleepless days and nights for us as a team and I couldn’t have asked for a better partner to start my career as a K9 handler with. I never thought I would enjoy having a bloodhound so much. We have had some captures on criminal suspects and found missing people and that I will never forget, especially the last one we had together just a few weeks ago. I didn’t think that would be your final call, but you got your man and ended your career the way you wanted. Duke, you have served Union County very well and it did not go unnoticed. You will be a hard one to replace. You are no longer sick and can rest easy, buddy. You will be missed more then you know.”