POLK COUNTY, Fla. — A retired K-9 who served with both Polk County Sheriff's Office and the Haines City Police Department died this week, the Polk County Sheriff's Office announced.
K-9 Halas suffered from cancer in his final days, the agency says. He was 12 years old. The K-9 deputy served for many years dating back to 2011 when he joined the Polk County Sheriff's Office in 2011 when he was an 11-month-old pup. He was partnered with Deputy Sheriff Jennifer Davis until she received a promotion to lieutenant in 2015 and then became Deputy Sheriff Robert Bryant's partner.
When Bryant made the move to Haines City Police Department in 2018, K-9 Halas went along with him, continuing to serve until he retired in 2020.
The German Shepherd was a dual-purpose K-9 working in narcotics detection and apprehension, the sheriff's office said. He was also "a phenomenal tracking machine," they added.
"We were shot at, had knives pulled on us, and on several occasions, bad guys tried to drown him," Bryant said in a statement provided by the Polk County Sheriff's Office. "But we always came out on top."
