CHELMSFORD, Mass. — Weeks before his fifth birthday, Axel, the Police Department's canine, was put down yesterday after a brief illness with cancer.
A Czechoslovakian shepherd, Axel was the four-legged member of the Police Department since November 2008.
K-9 Officer David Leo was Axel's handler. Leo said the dog he has had for almost five years will be missed.
"He was a good dog, very loyal, very protective of me," Leo said.
But unlike the department's previous dog, Andy, who was very sociable and loved to play, Axel was all business.
"He was just all business all the time," said Leo.
When Leo would throw a toy, Axel would bring it back, but wouldn't let it out of his mouth.
But Leo said Axel was a great dog as far as tracking and assisting with drug work.
"That's what he was for and that's what he did and he was good at it," said Leo.
Chief James Murphy said in a press release that Axel "has been instrumental in assisting officers in numerous tracking and searching operations."
The department plans on getting a new police dog.
Andy, a German shepherd, died in 2008 from a bacterial infection that he likely picked up while chasing a suspect through a swamp, said Leo.