Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Fire and Rescue Department's friendly K9 tracker dog, Lexi, died on Nov 6, shortly after completing its final search mission for a missing elderly man in Menggatal.
According to The Star, the 10-year-old Labrador Retriever was found lifeless in its kennel during routine checks by personnel, who tried to resuscitate it but were unsuccessful.
Its K9 unit division chief Calvin Joe Jeafery said Lexi had completed a two-day search operation for a 67-year-old man who went missing on Nov 4, and showed no signs of illness or distress after returning to the station.
Calvin said Lexi's death deeply affected the team, describing it as one of the friendliest dogs in the unit, which loved playing with balls and was always the first to respond when called.
Born in the United Kingdom on April 21, 2016, Lexi arrived in Sabah in 2018 as part of the state's early batch of search and rescue dogs. It was last handled by fireman Arthur Anderson Walter. Its cause of death is still pending post-mortem results.
In a Facebook post, the Sabah Fire and Rescue Department paid tribute to the canine, saying: “Thank you Lexi for your service and for being part of the Sabah Fire Department family. We will miss you.” Lexi was buried on Nov 7 after its post-mortem.
