Putnam County retired K9 Zeke passes away in his sleep

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office announced the passing of its retired K9 officer Zeke, who passed away in his sleep last night at 11 years old.

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During Zeke’s career, he removed countless drug dealers off the streets. He additionally helped with numerous apprehensions of shooting suspects, burglary suspects, absconded child predators and helped locate missing persons.

Zeke had a penchant for knowing when others needed him and where he wanted to be. In 2018, when his partner, Sgt. Vieira, was promoted and he would be assigned a new handler, Zeke mysteriously started limping. Veterinarians determined he had a degenerative condition and it would be beneficial for him to retire rather than jump in and out of a patrol vehicle every day.

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The decision was made that Zeke would live with Vieira upon his retirement and miraculously, a month after retirement, Zeke was no longer limping. Viera joked that although he did have the medical condition and not going to work every day helped, he thinks Zeke missed his family more.

Zeke will be missed by those who he left behind. He left his mark on those who worked with him, as well as many schoolchildren and scouts he met for demonstrations. He will be especially missed by his family and his best friend Vieira.

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