Retired Fort Worth search dog nominated for award

FORT WORTH, Texas - The Fort Worth Police Department is hoping North Texans will vote for one of its K9 friends in a national contest.

The police department said 11-year-old Luca is a candidate for the American Humane Hero Dog Awards’ “Search and Rescue” title. He is a retired SAR dog that belongs to Fort Worth Officer Cole Brock.

Last year Officer Brock responded to a call about a missing elderly man with Alzheimer’s. After searching the area where he disappeared and having no luck, he turned to his family pet for help.

Despite being retired, the officer knew Luca would enjoy searching for the missing man because it meant he’d get to ride in a helicopter.

“Officer Brock had trained Luca to follow human scent and, knowing that each minute that ticked away decreased the chances of a successful recovery, went to his home nearby and picked up Luca. He and Luca then scoured the area until the missing man was found,” Fort Worth PD said on Facebook.

Luca picked up the missing man’s scent near a steep bank along the Trinity River. Officers found the man in the river and stuck in waist-high mud.

If it weren’t for Luca the man could have drowned or died from hypothermia.

“Luca’s love and dedication to SAR shows the resilience of older dogs and how training doesn’t go away just because they retire,” his bio on the Hero Dog Awards page states.

The contest runs through May 3. To vote, visit herodogawards.org/dog/luca.