Rock Rapids, Iowa — The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office has lost a K9 officer.
According to Lyon County Sheriff’s officials, K9 Rizzo passed away Friday, February 18. They tell us K9 Rizzo began her career at the sheriff’s office in March of 2016 and faithfully served until her last shift this past Thursday, February 17.
During K9 Rizzo’s career sheriff’s office personnel state that she had a total of 224 calls for service, resulting in multiple pounds of marijuana and methamphetamine being seized, as well as $11,591 in drug forfeiture funds. She was also very involved in community events such as town celebrations and school presentations. K9 Rizzo won several awards in her short career, most notably placing 7th overall at the USPCA Nationals in 2019 and receiving the 2020 detector case of the year.
Her friends at the Lyon County Sheriff’s office tell us when Rizzo wasn’t doing her assignment, she was often up to mischievous “work” around the office, like eating unattended food and knocking over the office Christmas tree.
Lyon County Sheriff Stewart Vander Stoep says Rizzo was a huge asset to Lyon County and will be greatly missed. He says she died of natural causes.
