February 3, 2016
Students who attended the 2016 South Burnett Careers Market in Kingaroy will be sad to learn that one of the stars from the day has died.
Police dog Waco was a popular attraction at the Careers Market held at the TAFE South West campus in July.
Sadly, the police confirmed that Waco died early on Friday after suffering heat stress while on duty on Thursday.
About 1:30pm, Waco and his handler were tracking an offender in the Deception Bay area who had fled on foot from a stolen car.
Around 2:00pm, Waco’s handler observed him becoming unsteady on his feet and recognised signs of heat stress.
Waco was immediately provided with water and taken to a nearby veterinary surgery.
Despite attempts to lower his body temperature and replace his fluids, Waco died just before 5:00am on Friday.
A police spokesman said Waco’s handler was very experienced and was devastated at the death of his dog.
“The QPS takes the health and wellbeing of all police dogs very seriously and sees them as valued members of the police family,” the spokesman said.
So sad to hear about Waco. Thank you Waco for keeping us safe. Condolences to handler Rob for your very sad loss. RIP