La Porte Police Department retires beloved K-9

LA PORTE, TX (KTRK) -- La Porte Police Department has officially retired Lodka, a Belgian Malinois, from their K-9 team.

In her seven years of service, Lodka and her handler, Officer Jesse Arenivas, have been instrumental in the seizure of both narcotics and their related proceeds.

At the National Narcotic Detector Dog Association's (NNDDA) narcotic detection competition, Lodka and Arenivas consistently placed in the top 10, with a first place win in 2010.

Unfortunately, Lodka was diagnosed by veterinary staff as having a degenerative arthritic condition in the right elbow, as well as both hip joints.

Lodka served for 7 years, which is 49 dog years. She will now live with Arenivas as a retiree.

Meanwhile, LPPD continues to deploy two other active K-9 teams, which will work hard to fill the void left by Lodka's departure.