A valued member of the Waterloo police force is leaving the department after nearly a decade of dedicated service to the city.

Robby will be retiring soon. Born in Holland, the Belgian Malinois is the longest-serving K9 that Waterloo police have ever had. Robby has been working alongside his partner -- Sgt. Gus Farmer -- since 2006, and he's currently the oldest member of the department's K9 unit.

According to Waterloo police, Robby made a miraculous recovery following a near-fatal fall in 2007. The K9 officer fell three-stories while searching a building for a burglary suspect, about a year after he joined the force.

During his 10-year career, K9 Robby has been involved in the seizure of hundreds of pounds of illegal narcotics -- worth well over $1.5 million dollars -- and thousands of dollars in United States currency that were the proceeds of illegal narcotics sales. Police said the larger seizures K9 Robby has been involved in were the location of 12 pounds of ICE methamphetamine and over 100 pounds of marijuana.

Police said K9 Robby has also been involved in the apprehension of numerous suspects that were fleeing or hiding from authorities, taking his overall total of arrests well into the hundreds.

Moving forward, the Waterloo Police Department is now beginning the process of raising the funds to purchase a K9 to replace K9 Robby. The K9 Unit functions on donations, all of which are tax deductible.

For more information on the K9 Unit, or to make a donation, contact Sgt. Farmer at farmera@waterloopolice.com or call (319) 291-4340, ext. 5569.

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