Santa Barbara Police K9 Loki retires with 42 dog years of service

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Santa Barbara Police K9, Loki, celebrated 42 dog years of service - or six people years - at his retirement ceremony Tuesday. 

The eight-year-old German Shepard received a Mayoral Proclamation at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Loki’s presence filled City Hall with smiles and multiple rounds of applause. 

“Thank you for your outstanding service to the City of Santa Barbara and its residents and [we] wish you a full and carefree life of happiness and leisure. Officer, thank you,” said Santa Barbara Mayor Cathy Murillo. 

Loki made a career out of sniffing out criminal activity with 183 narcotic sniffs and close to 150 building searches. 

His partner, Sgt. Brian Miller got him when he was two and their training never stopped.

Officials say the pup of the hour can smell over 1,000 times better than his human partner and handler. While we have around 5 million scent receptors in our noses, Loki has roughly 225 million. 

Loki was cross-trained on narcotics and police apprehension and would deploy with swat units. 

“I got into a lot of different adventures with Loki and he saved my butt several times. His main purpose, and he’s very good at it, was protecting our officers and our citizens and allowing our officers to do their job in a lot safer way,” said Miller.

No need to worry, Loki and Sgt Miller won’t be separated.

Miller is adopting his faithful partner of six years and he’ll transition into a family pet role. 

The department recently brought two new dogs to the K9 program, which is largely funded through private donations.