Donor dog a hero for saving K9
A police dog has survived a stabbing after receiving a blood transfusion from New Zealand’s top police dog.
Four-year-old police dog Kosmo received a 4-centimetre cut to the throat, narrowly missing his carotid artery, while responding to what police described as a family harm incident in Kaiapoi about 6.30pm on Thursday.
Kosmo was flown by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter to Christchurch and then taken by ambulance to a 24-hour veterinarian, where he received the transfusion from fellow police dog Oza.
He was transferred to a police veterinarian yesterday morning and is being monitored.
Oza was also recovering well and was on three days of bed rest, according to his handler, Constable Craig Moore.
Joshua Luke Cooper, 29, appeared in Christchurch District Court yesterday charged with intentionally wounding Kosmo.
Judge Gary MacAskill remanded Cooper, of Hornby, in custody to appear again on June 18.
Defence counsel Caitlin Gentleman said no bail application was being made at Cooper’s first appearance but one may be made at his next court date.
Cooper entered no plea to the charge of intentionally wounding a police dog without lawful authority or reasonable excuse.
Kosmo’s handler, Constable Regan Turner, told media yesterday that he was tracking an alleged offender through a rural property when he let Kosmo run ahead.
‘‘I knew when I got to the area and couldn’t find him that something had happened. He doesn’t run away from me. I knew he was lying somewhere, it was just a matter of getting to him.’’
It took 20 to 25 minutes to eventually find Kosmo and administer first aid. ‘‘Kosmo had lost a lot of blood, I thought he was a goner,’’ Turner said.
Moore and Oza were crowned police’s top dog team last year.
The pair came out on top of the 11 teams competing in the patrol dog category of the National Police Dog and Detector Dog Championships, winning the coveted Frank Riley Cup.