Florida K9 Named 'Taco' Retires After Heroically Saving His Partner's Life a Year Ago
Last week the Pinellas County Sheriff's office announced the retirement of their K9 officer Taco.. on Taco Tuesday.
Corporal Matt Aitken was K9 Taco's partner and now Taco will be living with Aiken and his family, and this story is just that much more heartwarming because a year ago K9 Taco saved Aiken's life.
The Facebook post explains, in part, "K-9 Taco's most significant catch was also his last. On March 12, 2023 Corporal Matt Aitken and K-9 Taco were tracking a burglary suspect accompanied by Sergeant Jake Viano. The suspect ambushed Corporal Aitken and shot him three times. K-9 Taco lunged at the suspect, distracting him, allowing Sergeant Viano to shoot the suspect. Corporal Aitken may not be here today if it wasn’t for the heroic actions of K-9 Taco and Sergeant Viano."
Related: North Carolina Police Department Puts Ailing K9 in Shelter Instead of Letting Him Retire
Fox13 News quoted Corporal Aitken explaining what happened while he recovered in the hospital and Taco was brought into visit him. "I sit down and Taco just put his head in my lap. I mean they know. They’re brilliant. They know. When we first saw each other it was immediately like, 'My God, this dog saved my life.He feels like home. I wouldn’t be here without him," he said. "He’s not my partner, he’s my brother."
Okay, I'm not crying, you're crying!
Aitken was quoted in the same article talking about what life will be like with Taco now, "Now that he’s home with us, I’ll never forget what he did. My family will never forget what he did. I’m definitely not hard on him like when I worked with him. Some of the rules that we’re told we can’t violate, like don’t let him be on the couch, don’t let him sleep in the bed. I don’t care. Enjoy the couch, the bed, the air conditioning, this is yours. He’s earned every bit of it."
What an absolutely beautiful story. Enjoy your retirement K9 Taco!
What Goes In To Training a Police Dog
The US Department of Justice reports that the total average cost of a successful canine police program is $55,672.42.
Not only do these incredible dogs have to be trained for drug detection, but also how to perform search and rescue and how to help apprehend criminals.
Police dogs able to search through rubble after a devastating explosion, earthquake, or other disaster. They find people lost in avalanches. These dogs search for explosives and illegal drugs, they canvas large events to look for explosives, and help search civilian vehicles that have been pulled over.
Basic training for the patrol dogs takes approximately 4 months of full-time work, sometimes longer.
In addition to that, these amazing pups are like family both to the officers who work with them and their relatives.
We are so happy that K9 Taco gets to live out his days with the family that loves him so much. What a wonderful hero he is!
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