Lubbock County is in mourning after K9 Arlo, the sheriff’s office’s oldest working police dog, passed away unexpectedly during a “routine” training exercise. The seven-year-old Belgian Malinois had served since 2021, specializing in suspect apprehension and narcotics detection—aka, doing the real work while humans stood around saying “good boy.”
Arlo was rushed to an emergency vet after suffering a medical emergency but sadly didn’t make it. He was expected to retire soon, meaning he almost got to live out his final days not chasing meth heads across the county. The Sheriff’s Office held a private honor walk, issued an official statement, and reminded everyone they can send condolences to the same address where your property tax bill comes from.
Officials are now awaiting autopsy results to determine the cause of death. Because apparently when it’s a police dog, we get lab work and ceremony—when it’s a human in county jail, we get “under investigation.”
Rest easy, Arlo. You served Lubbock better than most of its elected officials ever will.
