Gazza shot dead in confrontation
The police dog killed on Friday was 4-year-old Gazza.
The german shepherd, which last year survived being strangled by a burglar yet still managed to nab his man, is understood to be the canine killed in pursuit of an armed man in Porirua.
The dog was shot dead during an ongoing armed incident which drew armed police and a helicopter to the Cannons Creek neighbourhood north of Wellington on Friday morning.
The identity of an officer injured jumping from the window of a Kokiri Crescent house remains unknown, but Wellington District Commander Superintendent Sam Hoyle confirmed the injured officer was not its handler.
Hoyle said he understood the dog had died at the scene.
Gazza’s police dog sister, Gypsy, gave birth to a litter of puppies less than a month ago.
Police dogs live with their handlers and families.
Last April, Gazza caught a burglar who led him and handler Constable Josh Robertson on a 3-kilometre chase through the outskirts of Wellington.
The dog, then aged 3, nursed twisted ears and a sore neck after being choked by the fleeing burglar. The pair had been patrolling in Wainuiomata on a rainy night last April when Robinson heard a ‘‘thump,’’ then saw a man jumping off a shop’s roof.
Robertson and Gazza trailed the man for about an hour until they got to bush and the handler set the dog loose.
Soon he heard yelping in the distance and could see from afar his dog tussling with the man.
The man, whose forearm Gazza had in his grip, switched arms and got the dog in a chokehold, using his other arm to twist his ears.
‘‘He was getting stuck into the dog but then dog got stuck back into him,’’ Robertson said at the time. ‘‘He absolutely nailed it.’’
When the handler got close enough to the dog he ordered him off, called for backup, and the man, who had been out of prison for a month, was collared. At the time Robertson said it was not the first time Gazza had been injured on duty but it was the worst.
According to TVNZ reality show Dog Squad’s March Facebook post, Gazza was due to star in an episode soon, along with sister Gypsy who gave birth to 11 pups in March.
The last police dog to be slain was Gage, in Christchurch.
By law the penalty for anyone who intentionally kills, maims, wounds or otherwise injures a police dog faces up to two years in jail, or a fine of up to $15,000, or both.