South Australia Police is excited to see Police Dog Bandit graduate for active duty again today.
PD Bandit began his career in 2019, but almost a year ago was rushed to the emergency vet with a swollen abdomen.
Overnight he had gone from being a vibrant, energetic, highly-trained Police Dog to a shadow of his former self. The vets diagnosed him with septic peritonitis (infection in the abdomen) and he was in septic shock – his organs starting to fail. PD Bandit was in a critical condition.
A grass seed in his stomach caused PD Bandit to have several surgeries and spend time in intensive care.
Dog Operations Unit Sergeant Peter Crouch said all members of the unit were devastated by the news of Bandit's serious condition.
"He had a long line of visitors and although he was so ill, Bandit always mustered a tail wag when he saw them," Sergeant Crouch said.
"After two weeks in intensive care, Bandit stabilised, responded well to his treatment and was ready to be reunited with his Handler."
"Bandit passed all of his health checks in February and began to redo the General Purpose Course – he's graduated today and will be back to his duties with his handler."
South Australia Police have 12 General Purpose (GP) Dog teams and 8 Specialist Dog Teams (detecting drug, firearm, explosive and currency).
The General Purpose Dog Teams, like Bandit are German Shepherds and are trained in criminal apprehension, property location, missing person location, and handler protection – they work on a 24 hour rotating roster.
