A Kingman, Arizona police dog died Saturday after suffering from heat exhaustion during the search for two injured hikers last week.
K-9 Amigo was assisting in the search of the hikers who needed rescuing from the top of the mountain range by White Cliffs on Aug. 17 when he fell ill, according to a news release.
The hikers were rescued and transported to the Kingman Regional Medical Center for minor injuries.
Amigo was transported to a local veterinary clinic when he began showing signs of heat exhaustion and was transferred to the Veterinary Emergency & Critical Care in Las Vegas later that evening for advanced care.
While the dog's condition was showing signs of improvement, his attending veterinarian said that he suffered a sudden medical event and was pronounced dead around 10:30 a.m. three days later.
"This is a very sad occasion. The bond between our handlers and their dogs is very strong and the officer is devastated by the loss," Kingman Police Chief Robert J. DeVries said in a statement. "While they are working dogs, these animals also become a close and important part of the individual police officer's family as well as the rest of the KPD family. Clearly, we have lost one of our own."
Officials said that Amigo's handler, Officer Adam Simonsen, was devastated by the news.
The 3 ½ year old Belgian Malinois served with the Kingman Police Department for one year and was certified in narcotics detection, tracking, and handler protection. He has been credited with numerous narcotics seizures to include 50 kilos of cocaine this past February.
The department plans will host a memorial service next week.
