Orange County Sheriff’s Announce Sudden Loss Of Dedicated K-9

Over the weekend, the Orange County Sheriff's Office released the sad news that one loyal and dedicated member of the law enforcement family had passed away. That loss came in the form of K-9 Justus

A Life of Service

Justus the German Shepherd, spent the vast majority of his 10-year life serving as an active K-9 with his partner and handler 1st Sergeant Jeremy Yela. According to the Facebook post from the Orange County Sheriff's Office, Justus was originally born in the Czech Republic and at the age of 15 months he began his career with Sergeant Yela.

The two would undergo and complete a crucial 24-week training process where they would learn how to handle a variety of situations including...

criminal apprehension, building searches, tracking, evidence and article recovery and narcotics detection.

While Justus saw a great amount of success in locating criminals and lost individuals, narcotics operations is where Justus appeared to be at his best. The Facebook post mentions that on one particular assignment, Justus was credited with finding 10 kilograms (kilo's) of cocaine, which had an estimated value of $10 million dollars.

Remembering Justus

In the Orange County Sheriff's post, it states that K-9 Justus passed away from what was called "medical complications". Aside from being a tremendous asset in the field,  K-9 Justus also loved participating in K-9 demo's where he go to meet a number of different kids.

As recently as two weeks ago, K-9 Justus and Sergeant Yela attended the American Kennel Club: Meet The Breeds event, which was held at the Javitz Center where over 1000 people attended.

Aside from his service, K-9 Justus also enjoyed life at home with his partner as a member of Sergeant Yela's family with his wife and children. Thank you for all the hard work Jutus. Rest easy, you've earned it.