The Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office held a full ceremonial send-off—lights, sirens, flags, the whole nine yards—for K9 Arlo, a Belgian Malinois who died of cardiac arrest during training. Arlo served since 2021, worked with two handlers, and apparently had the kind of work ethic the rest of the department only talks about during election season. Officials praised his dedication, his drug seizures, and his ability to push himself literally to the point of collapse. Inspiring! Also… deeply unsettling!
Sheriff Kelly Rowe and County Judge Curtis Parrish delivered emotional speeches describing Arlo as a hero, a teammate, and the hardest worker in the building—which, if you’ve interacted with LSO lately, feels less like praise for the dog and more like a cry for help. They emphasized the “no stop in him” attitude, which sounds poetic until you remember that pushing an animal until it literally crawls back to its handler on all fours isn’t exactly a heartwarming leadership anecdote.
During his career, Arlo helped seize a mountain of drugs—meth, cocaine, marijuana, fentanyl—basically enough contraband to stock an entire weekend of Lubbock college parties. He also contributed to 125 arrests and surrenders, many of which probably required the classic Lubbock law enforcement tradition: blazing through the city in a high-speed chase because someone forgot to use a turn signal.
The department insists Arlo was in great health and set to retire next year, which really makes “died during routine training from overexertion” feel like the world’s bleakest job review. But don’t worry: LSO says he died “doing what he loved,” because in Lubbock, even the dogs apparently can’t get a peaceful retirement.
If the sheriff’s office showed half this level of accountability when humans get hurt, imagine how safe Lubbock might actually be.