2 St. Louis County K-9s die in 1 week

Authorities in St. Louis County are mourning the loss of two K-9s in the span of just one week.

Northland K9 Foundation said Tuesday that K-9 Diesel, who had been off-duty for several months due to a degenerative spinal issue, died.

"He’d had several surgeries, and was doing well – until this weekend when he suddenly lost function in his rear legs. Advice from the vet following an MRI was that additional surgery had minimal chance for success, and so the difficult decision was made to end Diesel’s suffering," the foundation said.

Diesel had worked for the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office since 2014 and was just shy of his eighth birthday, the K9 Foundation said. He was deployed more than 300 times and had several notable apprehensions, including a man who’d been firing a semi-automatic rifle in a neighborhood, a drug dealer armed with a knife and a man who’d broken into a couple’s home and held them at gunpoint.

Several handlers and officers came out Tuesday to give Diesel a final salute.

Diesel’s death comes after another K-9, Kilo, died Oct. 14.

According to the K-9 Foundation, Kilo was retired after working for the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office for nine years. Kilo was 10 years old and had medical issues but his death was still unexpected, the foundation said.

Some of his notable apprehensions include catching domestic assault suspects on consecutive nights in below-zero temperatures, catching suspects in an outhouse, a tarp-covered boat and every type of vegetation, the foundation said. However, Kilo was also gentle enough to locate several missing vulnerable adults.