TCSO retires K9 Steele, welcomes new K9s Shadow and Radar
AUSTIN, Texas - The Travis County Sheriff's Office is saying goodbye to one of its K9s and welcoming two new ones.
K9 Steele served for seven years with two different handlers. His duties included narcotics detection, suspect apprehension, and tracking as well as aiding in missing person searches and serving on both patrol and SWAT.
TCSO says it's time for Steele to retire due to his age and that Steele will be happily living his retirement years in the home of his original handler.
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With Steele's retirement, there will be two new K9s joining the unit. Shadow is an 18-month-old Shepherd/Malinois which is also known as a Maliherd.
Radar is a 14-month-old Belgian Malinois.
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TCSO says the Malinois breed works well for law enforcement because dogs of that breed tend to have a strong protective instinct, are fiercely loyal to their owners, and have a strong drive and motivation to pursue a task.
Both Shadow and Radar are in basic training and will be on patrol soon. Shadow will fill the spot left by Steele while Radar will be filling another open position.
With the two new additions, TCSO says it has six K9s assigned to each patrol which is two for each shift.