Star police dog Kojak put down
EASTERN Cape veteran searchand-rescue dog Kojak was put down yesterday morning after his star career was cut short by a brain tumour earlier this year.
In May, The Herald reported that German shepherd Kojak had been forced to take retirement after an X-ray revealed he had a 3cm brain tumour.
During his career, Kojak completed 665 search-and-rescue operations across the Eastern Cape and even outside South Africa.
Other operations included the search for missing school teacher Jayde Panayiotou, whose husband, Christopher, is standing trial for her murder.
One of Kojak’s most daring rescues involved a 2km climb down a shaft at the Bulyanhulu Gold Mine south of Lake Victoria in Tanzania, in 2013.
His career also included finding missing hikers on mountain ranges, locating remote and barely accessible aircraft crash sites, climbing down into gorges, and finding missing people drowned in rivers or dams.
He dangled 30m below a helicopter, rescued five people and recovered 275 bodies.
K9 unit handler Warrant Officer Etienne Gerber – who has worked with Kojak for eight years and who has been looking after the extraordinary dog since he was boarded from active police duty earlier this year – said he and his family were distraught.
“It is like losing a child. We are all shattered and have lost a member of our family,” he said.
Police spokeswoman Colonel Priscilla Naidu said Gerber had woken up at about 2am when he heard a commotion.
“He noticed Kojak lying half inside his kennel.
“Seeing that something was wrong with Kojak, Gerber stayed with him.
“Kojak lost consciousness and was rushed to the Walmer vet,” she said, but nothing could be done to save him.