Sheriff’s Office lays former K9 DJ to rest
K9 DJ served with the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office from 2013 to 2021. Photo courtesy of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office.
Dog was deployed 588 times and helped make 294 arrests
– The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office last week laid to rest K9 DJ, a retired dual-purpose police dog who served the county for eight years, according to a post on the office’s Facebook page.
DJ was born in San Luis Obispo County on Oct. 17, 2012, and joined the Sheriff’s Office about a year later. During his career, he was partnered with Deputy Steve Faeth, Deputy Josh Peet, and, most recently, Deputy Bryan Love. He lived with each of his handlers and their families.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, DJ was deployed 588 times, located more than 7,000 grams of illegal narcotics, and apprehended more than 100 suspects, contributing to 294 arrests.
After his service ended in 2021, DJ spent nearly five years in retirement with Deputy Love.
Love and his wife, along with retired Deputy Peet and his wife, gathered last week to bury DJ in the Sheriff’s Office K9 graveyard. They were joined by people who had worked alongside DJ, cared for him, or come to know him during his retirement.
“Thank you, DJ, for your service to San Luis Obispo County, for the years you spent beside your people, and for being such a good boy. You are already missed,” the Sheriff’s Office wrote.
K9 DJ in a 2015 file photo.
When Peet became DJ’s handler in 2015, Paso Robles Daily News reported that DJ tracked down a suspect hiding in a riverbed on their first day working together.
The Sheriff’s Office shared a video tribute to DJ on its Facebook page. Click here to watch.
For more information, visit www.slosheriff.org.
