Wednesday, January 07, 2015

Community says goodbye to K-9 Diesel

Edina, Minn., Jan. 5, 2015 – Less than two weeks into retirement, K-9 Diesel was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer and died Saturday, Jan. 3.

“I know that Mike was looking forward to coming in to tell everyone how Diesel was spending his golden years, whether it’d be napping all day on the couch or chasing the occasional squirrel,” said Sgt. Dan Conboy. “Sadly, this won’t happen, but I’m sure everyone agrees that Diesel was a great canine while he was working and also at home with his family.”

Diesel, who was just shy of turning 10 years old, was imported from Slovakia and joined the Edina Police Department in March 2006. He was the last of the 16 dogs in his class from the St. Paul Police Department’s K-9 Academy to remain working.  

During his eight years with the Department, Diesel and his handler, Officer Mike Seeger, were involved in 587 calls for service and completed more than 1,700 hours of training. Seeger said that Diesel enjoyed his visits to the schools and he estimated that Diesel was petted by more than 7,200 people.

Seeger and Diesel were a talented duo and placed in many competitions, but the one that stands out to Seeger is when they placed in the top 20 for narcotics detection at the 2012 United States Police Canine Association’s National Detector Trials in Florida.

Most recently, the Edina Police and Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport Police departments hosted the 2014 National K-9 Detector Trials. Seeger and Diesel played an instrumental role in the success of the national event.

“The community has a heavy heart today,” said Sgt. Kevin Rofidal, handler to K-9 Kodiak, who passed away early last year after a long career with the Department. “Diesel was a familiar face around town and will be missed.”

The Jan. 31 retirement party has been cancelled. 

For more information, contact the Edina Police Department at 952-826-1610.

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The City of Edina
4801 W. 50th St., Edina, MN 55424
mail@EdinaMN.gov 952-927-8861

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