Pennsylvania K-9 who helped catch convicted murderer retires after eight years of service: 'He loved to work'
A Pennsylvania K-9 named Rex is hanging up his leash after eight-and-a-half years of service, including over 100 suspect apprehensions and hundreds of pounds of marijuana, cocaine, meth and heroin seizures.
Most recently, Rex helped search for convicted murderer Danelo Cavalcante, who was captured after he escaped from the Chester County Prison on Aug. 31.
"We’ve been able to assist in cases … all over the place and catch some very serious criminals, which I take a lot of pride in," Cpl. Chad Miller of the Lower Paxton Township Police Department, told Fox News Digital.
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Milelr went on, "One dog enhances all the abilities of the police department, whether it's crime prevention, criminal apprehension, drug interdiction."
He added, "It's crazy how much it adds to our ability to do our job."
An official retirement ceremony was held last month for Rex, the 9½-year-old German Shepherd who, during his time on the force, participated in 110 apprehensions, 107 tracks, 51 building searches, 43 articles searches, 43 school narcotics searches and five prison narcotics searches.
"Rex has been a great member of the force and has valiantly kept our community and his brother and sister officers safe," said Lowman Henry, chairman of the Lower Paxton Township supervisors.
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"We also want to thank Cpl. Miller for doing a great job in training Rex and look forward to seeing him working with our new police K-9, named Six."
Rex also helped seize 316 pounds, 100 plants and 200 THC vape cartridges of marijuana, 70.68 pounds of cocaine, two pounds of methamphetamine and 1.2 pounds of heroin.
He also seized $271,647 in currency and recovered 61 firearms throughout his career.
Miller and Rex served on the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force together.
After the ceremony, Rex went home to live the easy life with Miller, who was his handler for his entire career.
"Rex absolutely loved doing that stuff," Miller said. "I loved working him and he loved to work."
Most recently, Rex helped search for convicted murderer Danelo Cavalcante, recently captured after his escape from the Chester County Prison at the end of August.
As Cavalcante was captured after a two-week manhunt that led to school closures and left residents on edge, Miller said that his force and some members of the SWAT team were clearing areas covered in vegetation with Rex by their sides.
"A dog works a lot quicker and more efficiently than people," said Miller.
"People are looking with their eyes and aren't necessarily using all their senses. The dog is usually using their sense of smell first and then everything else afterward. So we were able to help those guys out and do our part."
Rex was also instrumental in catching four men who robbed an Ulta Beauty last year, leading police on a car chase until the suspects lost control and crashed.
"We ended up breaking the windows and put Rex through the driver's window," Miller said.
"The rest of them got out of the vehicle immediately. Unfortunately the driver took the brunt of it. Once it was all said and done, we had four suspects for robbery in custody, plus almost $50,000 of merchandise they had in a car. They had stolen a ton of perfume and cologne from Ulta."
Miller joined the force in 2004 after serving in the U.S. Navy — and spearheaded efforts to bring a K-9 unit to the department.
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"When I sold it to the board, I said if we save the life of one person through the seizure of illegal drugs, it's paid itself in full. It doesn't even come close to human life," he said.
Rex was the department’s first police K-9 since the 1970s, Miller said.
"He was the first dog I saw and we had an immediate connection," Miller said, adding that Rex was just a year old at the time.
Miller and Rex spent about six weeks at a K-9 training academy. They worked five days a week from early morning until 8 or 9 p.m.
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Rex graduated with flying colors and became a certified K-9 police dog. He went right to work.
"The first track Rex did still makes me laugh," Miller said. "We got called to a vehicle pursuit and the guy had fled from his vehicle into the woods."
Miller said he put Rex on the track and he did "phenomenal" — leading police to a thick wooded area.
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"I start giving [the suspect] the K-9 warnings, which is, ‘Police K-9. Come out now,’ Miller said.
"I hear this faint voice say, ‘I’m coming out.’ The guy comes out and he's got one hand up and he’s got one hand covering himself. He was completely naked. He wouldn't tell us why he was naked. It was just so weird."
Miller explained that police K-9s are trained to bite. The handler gives the suspect a warning and a chance to surrender.
"For violent serious people who put officers in jeopardy, we use the dogs as an apprehension tool," Miller said.
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"I think out of the 110 people who had the potential to be bitten, 99 gave up," he added. "Unfortunately, the others chose the alternative method."
Most police K-9s live at home with their handlers — and Rex’s at-home training was a family affair, Miller said.
That includes Miller’s wife Corrie and their three kids, Ethan, Madyson and Emma Miller, who are now ages 22, 16 and 11.
"It's kind of a running joke," Miller said. "My family helped build our team because I would have my wife out doing tracks and it didn't even matter the weather. I'd send her out where it was wet and we'd track to her."
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He added, "The kids would constantly play with [Rex] and play tracks. I remember my son hiding in a tree one time for us. It was a family effort."
Miller said Rex is settling into his new role at home.
"He still looks outside the window and he'll see me getting out with the new dog," Miller said.
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"He doesn't bark at us, but I can tell he’s a little bit like, ‘How dare you.' You know, he just gives you that look. When I get dressed for work, and he's not going, he’s like, ‘I can't believe you.’"
The new K-9 is an 18-month-old Belgian Malinois named "Six" for the military term "watching your six,’’ which means watching your buddy’s back.
"It's gonna be a firearms detection and patrol dog," Miller said. "Recently [we’ve had] gun issues, shootings, that type of thing. So he's been brought aboard to kind of help deter that and help locate illegal firearms and, after shootings, maybe [find] spent casings."
Lower Paxton Township now has three patrol K-9s and one arson dog trained to detect accelerants.
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