ASHEBORO N.C. – The Randolph County Sheriff’s Office said a difficult goodbye to one of its K9 officers today, following a grim health diagnosis.
February 27th, 2024, was a difficult day, says the Sheriff’s Office. This morning, K9 Ziva and her handler were honored in an End of Watch ceremony with members of the Sheriff’s Office along with the agencies Honor Guard gathered to say goodbye to K9 Ziva before the pair were escorted to the veterinarian’s office.
The Sheriff’s Office released a video of the end of watch ceramony on YouTube, which can be viewed here.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, in early February 2024, K9 Ziva was diagnosed with infiltrative lipoma. While the tumors are considered benign, the masses were aggressive, and had already begun attaching themselves to fatty tissue and bone.
“The area where the tumors are externally located would require not only for them to be removed but also for slow and methodical radiation and chemotherapy to be used to rid the entire area. This treatment would be very costly and according to her Vet, K9 Ziva would go through a myriad of complications and setbacks physically. Even with that method of treatment, we were informed the percentages of full success are very low,” said the Sheriff’s Office in a statement.
The Sheriff Office says that after careful consideration, involving consultations with the vet, multiple meetings with administration, and numerous days and nights considering what would be best option for K9 Ziva, the decision was made to lay K9 Ziva to rest due to the diagnosis.
K9 Ziva graduated from High Point Canine Solutions LLC and became a member of the Sheriff’s Office in November of 2020, assigned to her handler Det. Shawver. She was a dual-purpose canine trained in narcotics detection, article searches, tracking, and apprehension.
During her career with the Sheriff’s Office, K9 Ziva assisted in locating narcotics, including locating twenty-two kilos of cocaine in one case, with a street value of $480,000. She also helped deputies track and locate suspects in manhunts, including locating and capturing of a man who fled from police leading to a manhunt on the 64 Bypass near the Zoo Connector Road back in March of 2023. K9 Ziva was the top-tracking K9 in the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office canine unit for the year 2022.
“K9 Ziva has been an invaluable asset to the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office and the citizens of this county. Her accomplishments will not be forgotten, and her handler will cherish the time they had together forever. K9 Ziva, we truly appreciate your service and dedication to the citizens of this county. Rest in peace! We will take it from here,” said the Sheriff’s Office.
If you would like to make a donation in memory of K9 Ziva, contact Justin LaBarre with Total Recall K9 Training and Randolph Christian Men at https://www.totalrecallk9.com/
K9 Ziva
End of Watch – February 27th, 2024