Police dog dies the day before retirement

A police dog has died after falling off a roof as he searched for intruders - the day before he was due to retire. Baz, a six-year-old Alsatian who worked for Northumbria Police, fell off the building in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, while looking for burglars.

His handler, PC Gary Saunders, described the dog’s death as a "devastating experience". He said: "It has been one of the worst things I've encountered in 26 years of policing.



"Baz was a fearless and faithful partner who has, with me, encountered numerous highly dangerous situations but has died doing what most police dog and handler teams consider to be routine operational work."

Baz was born in May 2004 and became a police dog in June 2005. Two years later he started working as a firearms support dog. He was due to retire from general work, and his last operational day would have been March 18, the day after his fatal accident.