PANAMA CITY — A Bay County Sheriff’s Office K9 officer died after a long-lived life due to age-related causes, officials announced Thursday.
BCSO K9 Argos was a Belgian Malinois purchased in 2002 from a facility in the United States, but he was born in Europe. Argos’ handler was Deputy Jeff Duggins, BCSO reported.
Argos was known for his boundless energy and desire to work. He served as a dual purpose K9, meaning not only did he do the usual K9 work of chasing down bad guys to bite and hold them for his partner to arrest, but Argos was trained in narcotics detection work as well.
Although Argos remained a vital and active K9 years longer than most dogs. In 2013, Duggins noticed he was getting a little slower and felt it was time for Argos to retire. He went home to live with Duggins’ family.
Argos was put down Thursday due to respiratory problems. He was 15½ years old.