Rex worked with the Carson City Sheriff's Office for six years, during which he executed more than one thousand searches that led to hundreds of arrests. Rex was forced to retire this month after being diagnosed with epilepsy, and Saturday the Sheriff's Office partnered with the Nevada Humane Society to put on a party to commemorate a career of service.
"It's been three years we've been working on the special enforcement team," Deputy Jeff Pullen, Rex's partner, says. "He's found a lot of drugs put a lot of people in jail and it makes the sheriff happy, it makes the community happy that he's out doing his job."
Pullen says having a canine as a part of the team is a huge asset, especially because they put their lives on the line just like the deputies.
"They can handle stuff that we can't handle, they can smell 100 times better than we can," Pullen says. "They can save deputies lives going in, I'd rather send him in rather than get a deputy hurt if I have to. But I'm not going to send him in to something to something he might not come back from purposefully."
Rex came from Indiana when he was fifteen months old, and is forced to step away from the Sheriff's Office at the ripe age of seven. Now that he's done fighting crime, the average day will be a little more relaxing, even if he has his partner by his side.
"From the plaque you guys saw I paid one dollar for him he is now my dog," Pullen says. "So he'll be home with me for the rest of his life."
To replace Rex on the force, the Sheriff's Office actually added two new canines, Blue and Beck. They start their new jobs next week to help fill the hole Rex left. Pullen says they'll do a fine job, but Rex will still be missed.
"I think he's one of the best dogs on the street that was working so it's going to be hard to replace him," Pullen says.
